Bill to regularise building violations gets final push

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 8

The Punjab Council of Ministers on Friday approved the Punjab One-Time Voluntary Disclosure and Settlement of Violations of the Buildings Bill-2019. The Bill comes up for enactment in the budget session of the state Assembly next week.

The Bill approved by the state Cabinet on January 2 applies to all buildings constructed in violation of the building bylaws within municipal areas. The cut-off date is June 30, 2018. The Bill will provide one-time opportunity to the violators, who have made non-compoundable violations in the buildings. They will be regularised without compromising on public safety/security and convenience. Violators need to comply with the fire safety and structural safety norms, in particular.

Sources said the government was considering a rate of Rs 200 per sq ft in all the towns. The proposed rate in the Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana municipal corporation areas was Rs 300 per sq ft. A senior officer said, “In case there is any difference of opinion over the proposed rates in the Vidhan Sabha House, these can be amended.”

The violations that will be regularised included changes in the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of buildings and the parking space. No concessions will be allowed on issues concerning fire safety and areas meant for special schemes.

The department did not have an idea about the total number of buildings which will be affected.

Amritsar Mayor KS Rintu said, “Roughly 50 per cent of the buildings in the walled city had one violation or the other. People are not to be blamed because the system to keep a check was virtually non-existent earlier. The same is true in other towns.”

Jalandhar Mayor Jagdish Raja said, “General public, particularly those living in a building for the past 15 years and even more, will not be happy paying any extra charges to the government. I will only request the government to charge nominal fee for regularising these structures.”