E-Paper
City plagued with severe violations of by-laws
The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has ordered that ongoing constructions be stopped and is now looking for violations of building by-laws and unauthorised constructions.
The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has ordered that ongoing constructions be stopped and is now looking for violations of building by-laws and unauthorised constructions.
The violations, however, might be beyond assessment. According to the authority’s data, only 28 completion certificates were obtained over the last three years, although around 1,800 layouts were approved.
A builder can obtain a completion certificate only when he has completed the construction as per building by-laws, adhered to the approved layout and undertook area compounding within permissible limits.
The 28 certificates obtained were for guesthouses, group-housing and commercial properties built over 300 sq metres. They were obtained since in group-housing projects, the buyer cannot move in unless the builder gets a mandatory completion certificate.
It is mandatory to obtain a completion certificate as per the UP Planning & Development Act 1973 for buildings built over an area of 300 sq metres, especially if it is a group housing. But significant violations take place in case of single-unit plot properties, as buyers can move in without a completion certificate.
“Builders don’t obtain completion-certificates for single unit properties since they violate a number of norms,” GS Goyal, GDA’s chief architect and town planner told HT. “We expect around 99% builders and owners have not applied for completion certificates on smaller properties, especially the ones built on single unit plots.”
In absence of completion certificate, the authority has the power to seal and even demolish the building. But officials fear public backlash if they opt to act against suck unauthorised constructions.
“We are now surveying these violations at under-construction single-unit plot properties,” Goyal said. Officials, however, have no answer on why such violations were not checked during initial stages.
“Such constructions cannot take place without connivance between the officials and builders,” said former GDA board member and municipal-councillor Rajendra Tyagi. But as per rules, GDA cannot allow multiple-owners in buildings on single-unit plots either.
