The Indian Express 10.04.2013
After Thane incident, PCMC to raze ‘dangerous’ illegal buildings
In the wake of Thane building collapse, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to demolish dangerous illegal multi-storeyed buildings on priority basis. The orders were issued by Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi on Tuesday.
"We will assess the number of such properties in town," said Pardeshi. The civic chief has decided to come hard on such buildings after the Thane building collapse. The state government has directed the civic bodies to identify such buildings and take suitable action against them, civic officials said.
PCMC will target as many as 2,575 illegal buildings that came up after April 1, 2012. "Of the 2,575 illegal buildings, as many as 225 have already been demolished and first information report against 860 persons has been filed," he said.
Pardeshi said PCMC has started putting up details of illegal buildings on its websites. "This will spread awareness among people and ensure they do not buy such properties," he said. He said the civic body has also started issuing notices to recover the cost of demolishing illegal structures. This is being done as per the state government's directives, he added.
The civic chief said his administration will also conduct a structural audit of buildings to find out whether they met stipulated norms like fire safety standards and others while setting up structures.
On Monday, Pardeshi had taken action against civic staff in connection to a slab collapse two weeks ago in Udyognagar area of Chinchwad. As many as eight labourers were injured in the incident.
While junior engineer Sudarshan Wahikar was suspended and a departmental probe ordered against him, city engineer M T Kamble was issued a warning. He also cancelled the salary increment of deputy engineer Sanjay Kamble and added a 'note' in the service records of executive engineer Makarand Nikam. The administration had earlier sought explanation from Kamble and Nikam and had issued showcause notices to deputy engineer Sanjay Kamble and junior engineer Sudarshan Wahikar.
As many 40 junior engineers had protestested following action against Wahikar. They said Wahikar had taken photographs of the unauthorised construction and that the further action against the structure should have been taken by his seniors. Uday Tekale, assistant commissioner and chief of administration department, said he has forwarded the complaint to the civic chief.
Rickshaw panchyat to skip bandh
The two-day autorickshaw bandh starting April 15 by various rickshaw unions in protest against compulsory electronic meters has been opposed by the Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchyat. In a signed press release, president of the Maharashtra Rickshaw Panchyat Baba Kamble stated that they would run rickshaws during the strike.
Kamble stated that rickshaw bandhs caused inconvenience to the public and created a bad image about rickshaw drivers. They stated that issues cannot be solved by bandhs and dialogue is the only way.
The deadline for installation of electronic meters set by the district transport authority is April 30.
