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Efforts that will make buildings safer

Thursday, 02 May 2013 04:31 administrator
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The Hindu                 02.05.2013

Efforts that will make buildings safer

M. Soundariya Preetha

LPA can demolish structures if safety norms not followed

Following the fire at Vigneshwar Cresta on Avanashi Road that claimed four lives last week, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) and Coimbatore Corporation have started sealing unauthorised structures and a team of officials from different departments are inspecting the public buildings in the city.

The immediate focus is on public buildings, especially those under construction or those that were just constructed. The Coimbatore Corporation and the LPA have identified 201 structures for action and are placing these buildings under seal. The building owners can go for appeal, apply for regularisation, or provide the mandatory safety systems. The LPA can demolish the structures if the required action is not taken.

Will these efforts make the public, multi-storeyed and special buildings in the city safer and ensure that all these structures comply with the norms?

There are buildings in the city that were served notice by the department concerned even seven or eight years ago but have not taken the required action, points out K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of the Coimbatore Consumer Cause.

“If the existing structures that do not comply with the norms need to be brought down, probably there will be thousands in the city. Preventive action should be taken so that there are no more violations and the number of buildings that can get added to the list of existing structures with violations should be controlled,” he adds.

Some of the States are working on ways to stop unauthorised constructions. Stringent steps by the local body and the electricity department can help bring down unauthorised constructions.

The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation should not provide electricity supply to buildings that do not have the required approvals or the completion certificate from the competent authority. The local body should not assess the building for property tax and should not provide water connection. This will ensure that buildings get the required approvals and adopt the safety norms, he says.

Details of the approval procedure are available on: http://www.tn.gov.in/tcp/building_plan.html

 

15 more buildings locked & sealed

Tuesday, 30 April 2013 11:58 administrator
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The Times of India               30.04.2013

15 more buildings locked & sealed

COIMBATORE: Fifteen more buildings were locked and sealed on Monday by the city corporation as part of the ongoing drive against buildings violating approved norms. In all, the city municipal corporation has sealed 27 buildings since Saturday. Twenty-eight more buildings are in the fray. Local Planning Authority (LPA) is expected to start acting against high-rise buildings in its purview from May 3 after the list of buildings in violation of norms is finalised. LPA had earlier identified 146 illegal buildings but are presently confirming whether any further rectification had been carried out by the violators before starting action on these structures.

"We are now compiling a list of commercial buildings in the city from 2007 onwards to verify the total number of violators in the city," said S Sivarasu, deputy commissioner, Coimbatore municipal corporation.

The corporation armed with a list of 55 illegal buildings, which were served notices six months ago, began its lock and seal operation soon after four women died in a major fire at a commercial complex here at Lakshmi Mills junction on Thursday. The civic body officials focussed on commercial buildings on TV Samy Road, Saibaba Colony, Kamarajar Road, Trichy Road, Mettupalayam Road and Dr Nanjappa Road. The drive began on Saturday with the corporation sealing 12 under construction buildings.

"We are focussing on all new buildings that are being erected against the building plan that was approved from the town planning section of the corporation," said a senior corporation official.

The corporation is preparing a list of violators based on the property tax assessments. Stern action will be initiated against those commercial buildings in the coming days. The civic body is also planning to crosscheck whether 85 buildings previously sealed, were reopened after rectification.

"We have to now verify whether those building owners had actually taken any corrective measures or were allowed to resume activities through some negotiation with the concerned officials," said an official involved in the lock and seal drive.

Building owners are given a 30-day deadline, from the date of sealing, to initiate corrective measures as per the approved plan. If they fail to do so, a report has to be forwarded to the LPA on the basis of which demolition action is initiated. However, presently, both the corporation and LPA have not been meticulously following up on their lock and seal drives. Consequently, building owners have been able to resume construction activities without obstacles.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 12:00
 

15 more buildings sealed

Tuesday, 30 April 2013 05:01 administrator
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The Hindu                 30.04.2013

15 more buildings sealed

Corporation has prepared a list of 55 buildings.

The Coimbatore Corporation on Monday continued its drive against buildings where construction was in progress in violation of the approved plan. According to sources in the Corporation, officials in the Town Planning section fanned out across the city to seal buildings. They sealed three buildings in the Central Zone and four each in the North, West and East Zones. They did not seal any building in the South Zone.

The first building in R.S. Puram on T.V. Samy Road, according to the Corporation, did not have adequate setback space. The second building on T.V. Samy Road did not have adequate setback space. In the third building, the Corporation officials found out that the builder had not provided adequate setback space on the sides and rear and had constructed more than what the Corporation permitted.

The fourth building on Mettupalayam Road near the North Coimbatore Flyover did not have sufficient setback space and the builder had constructed a cellar without permission. In the fifth on Sukhrawarpet, the builder had not provided parking space. The sixth building on Dr. Nanjappa Road was without permission. The builder here had constructed 1,080 sq ft each at cellar, ground, first, and second floors.

The officials found that the seventh building on Mill Road did not have parking space and in the eighth they found that the builder had constructed the second, third, and fourth floors without permission.

The ninth building for the day on Sathyamangalam Road in Ganapathy was in deviation of the approved plan and had additional construction. In the 10th building on Sanganoor Road the builder had diverted the semi-basement, ground floor and first floor for commercial use. The builder had not provided adequate open space.

In the 11th building in Saravanampatty and 12th building on Tiruchi Road, the builders had constructed more than what the Corporation had permitted. The last three too were no different. With this the Corporation had initiated action against 27 buildings. It has a list of 55 such buildings. Monday’s drive comes four days after a fire accident at a commercial complex at Lakshmi Mills Junction consumed four lives.

 
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