The New Indian Express               28.04.2013

Officials sealing an under-construction building in Coimbatore on Saturday | S Kamalakannan

Two days after the inferno at a commercial building, officials of Coimbatore Corporation swung into action and sealed 12 complexes for violating building norms.

Some of the sealed buildings were already occupied while the rest were being constructed. Many of the buildings identified to be in violation of rules were located in the areas of Thudiyalur, Ganapati, Avinashi Road, Sukurawarpet, Dr Nanjappa Road, Thadagam Road, D B Road and near Kuniamuthur.

While inspecting two such buildings at Avinashi Road, S Sivarasu, deputy corporation commissioner, said that the civic body would be initiating action against violators who did not cease work or stick to plans approved by the civic body despite being served notices.

Pointing to one particular building, he said that it had received approval for an area of 10,000 sq ft, but the builders constructed 15,000 sq ft of space. Sivarasu said in case of buildings occupied by banks, 15 days have been given to vacate the premises. The rest have to move out within 24 hours.

Rajendran, a builder, whose building on Avinashi Road was sealed for alleged violations, said that he was unaware of the corporation’s notices. “It is unfortunate that the corporation has sealed the building as more than Rs 2 crore were already invested in construction,” he argued.

The Hindu                26.04.2013

Civic body to terminate stormwater drain contracts

After extending the deadline for the JNNURM-funded stormwater drain work a number of times in the city, the Chennai Corporation has finally decided to terminate the contract in many stretches. If the Chennai Corporation Council passes a resolution on Friday, the civic body will resume the work based on a revised detailed project report.

The delayed packages of stormwater drain works will be split into smaller packages for speedy completion by this north east monsoon.

The watersheds to be terminated include Cooum, Adyar, Central Buckingham Canal, Chellamal College Canal, MGR Canal and Jafferkhanpet Canal. However, deadline for some watersheds, where work has been relatively better, are likely to be extended by the Corporation Council on Friday.

Work on key stretches such as Nelson Manickam Road, Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road, Arunachalam Street, Anna Nagar Second Avenue, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore High Road, Mayor Ramanathan Salai, Casa Major Road, Raja Annamalai Salai, Kodambakkam High Road Swami Sivananda Salai, Sterling Road and Ayya Mudali Street that drain stormwater into Cooum River will also be terminated.

The revised detailed project report has been prepared for the stretches and tender will be floated for the works shortly. Of the 98 works in the Cooum watershed, only 22 works have been completed and 24 are under way. As many as 52 works will be terminated. The contractor has completed only 35 percent of the works in Cooum watershed so far. The original deadline for completion of facilities that drain into Cooum was October 28, 2010. The civic body has however, extended the deadline for completion of some of the works in Cooum watershed to September 8, 2013.

Similarly, the civic body has decided to terminate contract covering stretches such as Gandhi Nagar Main Road, Velachery Main Road, Taluk Office Road, Gandhi Mandapam Salai, Santhome High Road, Ashok Pillar Road and 100-ft Road as the contractor has been able to complete only around 35 percent of the works in Adyar watershed.

The civic body had recently extended the deadline for completion of the work, citing reasons such as the monsoon, sand scarcity, traffic restrictions by police and hindrance caused by shifting of utilities. Deadline for works on watersheds such as Kolathur, Royapuram and North Buckingham Canal are likely to be extended. Extension of the deadline for all the watersheds was granted a few months ago. The work in Virugambakkam and Arumbakkam watersheds were proposed to be completed on November 1, 2012. The civic body had extended the deadline by six months to July 1, 2013.

All stormwater drain work in Velachery was expected to be completed on April 25, 2012. The civic body had extended the deadline to March 25, 2013. The work in North Buckingham Canal was expected to be completed on January 7, 2013. The deadline was extended to July 6, 2013. Work in Royapuram is expected to be completed on June 15, 2013. Opposition by residents along canals to biometric survey was also one of the reasons for delay in completion of the work in many parts of the city.