AHMEDABAD: There may be 15 lakh illegal buildings in Gujarat, but the state government agencies certainly do not have any idea where these buildings are.

Surprising it may seem but here is the truth. The urban development department's claim before the Gujarat high court, that there are 15 lakh unauthorized structures in the state, has officials at municipal corporations and nagarpalikas scratching their heads as to how exactly did the government arrived at the figure.

Most of civic bodies are yet to conduct a detailed survey of illegal structures in their jurisdiction areas. The numbers were important for the effective implementation of the impact fee law.

For instance, the Gandhinagar Urban Development authority (Guda), which has jurisdiction over Gandhinagar and thereby over the area housing private bungalows of most of the senior state government officers, does not have a list of illegal strictures in the capital city of Gujarat.

What's more, while the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) may have claimed that there are five lakh illegal structures in the city, it can point at only 50,000 such buildings. The issue came up when the AMC had to issue notices to various property owners.

"We have now started a survey of commercial properties in different wards of the city. We are looking out for buildings that have made illegal extensions and rooms and are issuing them notices on the spot," says a senior AMC official.

"The list that we had was prepared by officers who added any illegal structures they came to know of during routine visits," he adds.

A Guda official also claimed that wherever necessary, they have been issuing notices and ensuring that the illegal construction was removed. "But we do not have a consolidated list of illegal structures in the city. We are in the process of identifying such properties," claimed the official.