The Hindu 16.12.2010
Unapproved buildings pose threat to citizens of Tirupur
| Most of them have been standing tall for years together |
Consumer organisation says there are more than 1,000 unapproved constructions
Some of them are so huge, but officials are yet to ‘identify' them
Tirupur: Unapproved buildings coming up at its will have always been a hindrance to the growth of the city and its suburbs.
Many of them pose a great danger to its users since they are not complying with fire safety norms and are poorly built.
According to the Director of Town and Country Planning P.K. Bansal, the Tirupur Local Planning Authority (LPA) had now identified a total of 435 illegal constructions in Tirupur city and its hinterland and a notice is going to be served on the owners of those edifices shortly.
But interestingly, a majority of the structures to whose owners the LPA is now ‘planning' to serve notices had been constructed many years ago and stood tall without getting ‘noticed' for all these time.
“Some of them have come up even as early as in 1996 itself and notices have been served on them then too,” Assistant Director (LPA) C. Jeevanantham told The Hindu.
Such errant constructions evaded action owing to lack of administrative will and follow ups.
The blatant corruption among officials involved in the plan approvals was cited by some consumer bodies as the catalyst for unauthorised structures to come up at regular intervals.
“The figures of 435 illegal constructions are not reflecting the real picture as one can easily point out more than 1,000 long standing unapproved constructions within the city itself, without a notice been served on them till now,” Nallur Consumers Welfare Association president N. Shanmugasundaram told The Hindu.
Mr. Shanmugasundaram had furnished a list of illegal constructions, which he had found exercising the Right to Information Act, to the Director of Town and Country Planning during the official's recent visit to Tirupur in order to substantiate his views.
Among the unapproved structures pointed out by Mr. Shanmugasundaram included a five-storeyed commercial establishment along Tirupur-Avinashi road, a shopping complex coming up near the court complex, a two-wheeler parking lot near Old Bus Stand and some buildings in Kumaran road.
“These are the some edifices which the officials have not ‘identified' till now,” he said.
How the unapproved structures are getting power and electricity is interesting.
“Most of them first get the plan approval for a very small portion of gigantic buildings they built and remit the tax with the civic bodies for that portion. Showing this, they get power and water connections only to illegally construct the remaining section,” Mr. Shanmugasundaram said.
