Prepare list of illegal buildings: Min to civic bodies

Kolkata: The urban development and municipal affairs dept has asked the KMC, all municipal corporations and municipalities to strictly follow legal provisions on unauthorised construction after the Tiljala factory fire incident, which claimed two lives last week.Municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul said, "I have asked my dept to send letters to all municipal body areas where illegal houses and buildings exist. We are sending letters to the civic bodies and asking to inform in writing as to how many such illegal buildings are there, why those houses have been built and what has been done to stop those houses from being constructed." The dept asked local bodies to prepare a report on unauthorised constructions identified in their areas and submit a report on action taken within a fortnight. It also directed civic bodies to send notices to violators and issue stop-work notices.In its order, the dept said it often received petitions on illegal constructions and had asked local bodies to take note and issue notices if unauthorised construction was identified under various provisions of the municipal act and KMC act, and to take legal action. It asked local bodies not to allow deviation of plans for residential buildings and to check the sanctioned building plan and completion certificate before issuing mutation certificates.The order reminded that wrongdoers could be imprisoned for 5 years along with a fine of Rs 50,000 for violation of building rules. Paul also said the dept would scrutinise all cases, and buildings without no-objection certificates (NOC) for having minor deviations in building plans might be allowed to be rectified.