Mayor's appeal for unauthorised constructions
Mayor R. Venkatachalam has appealed to Minister for Local Administration M.K. Stalin for the abolition of the recurring or life-time penalty on unauthorised constructions in the city. In a memorandum to the Minister, the Mayor has requested for a one-time penalty instead of the present system of penalising building owners for violating building rules. The penalty has been in force from October 1, 1992 under Rule 283 of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act.It was introduced to check the construction of entire buildings, or some portions, without the approval of the Local Planning Authority or the Corporation.Many violations are in the form of deviation from the plans approved these agencies. The Corporation had imposed a penalty of Rs.50 for every 100 sq.ft. of unauthorised structures. Through a resolution in the Corporation Council on January 17, 2005, the penalty was reduced to Rs.25 for structures measuring up to 3,000 sq.ft.For those above this size, the rate was retained at Rs.50. The revised rate took effect on April 1, the same year. (The reduction of the penalty for a section was done following a persistent demand from building owners, mostly those of commercial establishments that had rule violations such as non-allocation of the mandatory parking space. Councillors had also been pleading for the reduction for some years by pointing out that the penalty placed a heavy burden on traders in a city whose economy had been affected by the 1998 serial blasts.)
The latest appeal from the Mayor said that building owners had made a fresh request for the abolition of the recurring penalty. They wanted to have their buildings regularised by paying a one-time penalty, he said.Reacting to Mr. Venkatachalam’s appeal, Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary K. Kathirmathiyon wondered how the Mayor of a city could indicate that unauthorised structures would continue to be built, especially when the courts took a serious view of such violations.Mr. Karthimathiyon said his organisation would appeal to the State Government to reject the Mayor’s appeal for the scrapping of the recurring penalty and replacing it with a one-time payment.“We have already made it clear that the existing unauthorised structures that deny parking space for the public and also compromise on their safety should be demolished and not let off with a penalty,” he said.
