A total of 128 buildings in Chennai have come under the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) scanner in connection with the compliance of Directorate of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) norms and permissibility under the regularisation scheme announced by government under section 113 A of The Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act.
According to officials, the regularisation requests of these buildings were rejected by the CMDA due to inadequate particulars including fire safety norms and existence of the buildings under the regularisation scheme.
“Special Task Force of the CMDA and TNFRS officers did a joint inspection of these buildings and noted the discrepancies. Out of the 128, 80% of them are in the city and majority of them are commercial buildings. Few of them are residential,” said a CMDA official.
Officials said that they will be taking necessary action. “Our staff conduct random checks to identify the buildings that have violated norms. We are also contemplating usage of drones to review the buildings in Chennai. Using this technology, we can have the exact measurement of the buildings which will help us identify setback violations. Manually it takes a longer time and more manpower. We are engaging drone operators for this work,” explained the official.
This year alone, the CMDA has issued 31 lock and seal notices and have locked five of them. “We are doing our best with limited manpower in the enforcement cell. As of now we have around 30 staff, but we require atleast 150 personnel. Apart from the enforcement work, our staff also attend court cases and hearings. So our work can be enhanced if we get additional manpower,” he said.
S Ramaprabhu, committee chairman, Municipal and DTCP, Builders Association of India, said that it was vital to penalise those who flout the fire and safety norms. “It is crucial for the multi-storey buildings. It will serve as a deterrence for others,” he added.
He said after the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019- was rolled out, the deviations have reduced considerably. “Now completion certificate, from the authority concerned, is mandatory for high-rise and major buildings to get water, sewage and electricity connections,” he said adding that for buildings with deviations and those not complying with norms, the property tax can be doubled.