CCC Welcomes Corp's Safety Measure
Though the Coimbatore Corporation’s call for safety measures in buildings is welcome, the civic body should actually ensure that structures without these do not come up at all, the Coimbatore Consumer Cause has said. Welcoming the Corporation’s stand that buildings visited by the public must be safe or get demolished, the consumer welfare body has faulted the civic body for assessing for Property Tax many such buildings whose construction flouted building rules and thereby compromised the safety of the public. The lack of fire safety measures, inadequate escape routes during emergencies and the lack of parking space were some of the violations.“We are happy to note that for the first time, to our knowledge, the Corporation has expressed its concern about public safety in buildings,”
According to the consumer body, this approach of the Corporation had encouraged building rule violation and the resultant lack of safety. “We are happy to note that for the first time, to our knowledge, the Corporation has expressed its concern about public safety in buildings,” secretary of the organisation K. Karthirmathiyon said in a letter to the Corporation Commissioner V.K. Shanmugham on Wednesday. Appreciating the call to provide safety measures, the letter however, pointed out that the advice to the owners not to allow the public to enter these buildings was of no use. Only enforcement of rules would work.
“We are very concerned about the non-availability of adequate fire safety provisions and fire escape in the multi-storeyed commercial public buildings. Even after the Kumbakonam and Tiruchi fire in public places, no concrete effort is being taken to prevent such incidents in public buildings visited by a large number of people every day,” Mr. Karthirmathiyon said. The consumer activist alleged that the Coimbatore Corporation was not concerned about the unauthorised, unsafe public buildings even now. The existence of those buildings might not be known to the appropriate planning authority, since the Corporation merely collected penalty and made tax assessment for these buildings and provided water connections and other facilities.
Not even a single building was denied tax assessment or water connection or drainage facility by the Corporation despite being unauthorised and unsafe. Buildings constructed without any plan were treated only as “100 per cent deviation.” The Coimbatore Corporation never branded these buildings as unauthorised constructions. And, all the facilities available to approved and safe buildings were provided to the unauthorised and unsafe ones also. Except for the collection of a meagre amount as penalty from these buildings, the Corporation did nothing to ensure safety and convenience for the general public.
Even in case of penalty, the Corporation had magnanimously reduced it from 50 paise a sq ft to 25 paise in 2003. “Our expectations are that at least in future buildings will have the minimum requirements such as adequate parking area and fires safety measures. Unfortunately, we see no improvement. The Corporation should not compromise public safety for revenue. It should not make tax assessment and should not provide drinking water and underground drainage facilities to these buildings,” he said.
