Civic body checks commercial buildings to detect violations

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, August 9

Amid reports of several illegal commercial buildings coming up in different localities of Zone A and no action having been taken for violations — both compoundable and non-compoundable — officials of the building branch of the Municipal Corporation have taken in-hand detailed survey and photography of recently constructed buildings.

Violations of building bylaws rampant

There were complaints that both field staff and supervisory officials of the four zones in the city were either closing their eyes deliberately or else conniving with builders of illegal commercial buildings. As a result, violations of the building bylaws had become rampant and most of the builders were getting away even with non-compoundable violations such as excess coverage, misuse of parking area, not having front and rear set back in buildings, and on the top of it all, construction of commercial buildings in residential properties without any approved building plan or change of land use.

Sources in the MC said several commercial buildings in Bhadaur House, AC Market, Gandhi Nagar, Clock Tower Chowk, Deepak Cinema Road, Salem Tabri, Manna Singh Nagar, Kakowal Road, Jalandhar Bypass, Shivpuri, Kailash Nagar and Noorwala Road were checked and pictures of some of the buildings were also taken on Saturday.

It was learnt that relevant records such as the approved building plan, if any, challan, if issued, and follow-up action, if taken, would be sought from the zonal head concerned of the building branch (assistant town planner) so that negligence or connivance of officials, especially field staff (building inspectors of the area) could be established.

“As a follow-up action to this comprehensive exercise, action as per rules would be taken against the officials and employees for failure to issue challans or demolish non-compoundable violations in these buildings as non-processing of challans of violation of building bylaws cause huge loss of revenue to the MC,” sources added.

There were large-scale complaints that both field staff (inspectors) and supervisory officials (ATPs) of the four zones in the city were either closing their eyes deliberately or else conniving with builders of illegal commercial buildings/complexes.

As a result, violations of the building bylaws had become rampant and most of the builders were getting away even with non-compoundable violations such as excess coverage, misuse of parking area, not having front and rear set back in the buildings, and on the top of it all, construction of commercial buildings in residential properties without any approved building plan or change of land use (CLU).

Senior MC officials asserted that the objective of the exercise was to streamline the working of the building branch and bring to book the black sheep among the field staff and supervisory officials to curb the increasing menace of violation of the building bylaws in the city.