CMDA plans to impose heavy penalties on erring builders

16 erring builders till now identified

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is planning to impose heavy penalties against erring builders and has so far identified a list of 16 erring builders from 138 regularised multi-storied building commercial cases.

Sources told Express a sub-committee constituted by the monitoring committee at a recent meeting has suggested that the habitual violators need to be identified and security deposit should be collected as multiple of the security deposit normally collectable while issuing planning permission from such habitual violators,

Sources said the levying of penalties like multiple security deposit to habitual violators or erring builders require development regulation amendments and only Master Plan division is entitled to take further action in this regard. Sources said the sub-committee has urged Master Plan Division to take further action before placing it before the authority.

It is also believed CMA is taking necessary action for enhancing the security deposit for the building while issuing planning permission from Rs 100 per square metre to Rs 1,000 per square metre for multi-storied buildings and Rs 50 per square metre to Rs 500 per square metre for special buildings. A proposal is likely to be placed before the authority before forwarding it to government for orders.

Meanwhile, CMDA is also looking into the issue of denying planning permission by the areas plans unit for habitual violators. It also is planning to examine the registration of builders in the areas plans unit and accepting applications only from the registered builders. It is being deliberated whether such registration requires authority resolution or a Government Order or act amendment. This  shall be examined by obtaining legal opinion, a CMDA source said.

How the committee zeroed in on the list of erring builders:

1.   If a builder applied for regularization in the building regularization scheme 1999, 2000 and 2001 for three buildings, he may be defined as erring builder

2.   If any enforcement action taken against three buildings of the same owner

3.   Plans to have similar exercises in Chennai corporation as well as local bodies of Chennai Metropolitan Authority

4.   There should not be any distinction between the self-owned building and buildings put up by the professional builder

Hurdles:

1.   The existing provisions in the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 are inadequate to deter the erring builders

2.   The amendment as suggested by Justice Mohan Committee may be brought in which includes imprisonment provision