While the civic body continues to ruthlessly seal buildings that do not have ‘Building Use’ (BU) permission or demolish illegal constructions, there are 1.17 lakh property owners whose pleas to regularize illegal construction under the impact fee law, were rejected and categorized as illegal by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). These are awaiting action for a decade now.
In 2012, just ahead of the state assembly elections, the AMC had begun the process of regularizing buildings under the Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorized Development Act, 2011, (GRUD Act) after charging an ‘impact fee’.
The process saw 1.26 lakh illegal constructions being regularized of the 2.43 lakh property owners who applied under act. The AMC collected Rs 349.16 crore in impact fees. The process was a failure as 32% properties in Ahmedabad city and 35% to 38% properties across urban Gujarat do not have BU permission yet and are illegal.
This is a clear indication that illegal construction continued even after the GRUD Act. In the last six months, the AMC sealed 4,151 property units including 3,681 commercial units that had no valid BU permits.
The AMC also demolished illegal construction on 8,73,695 square feet. Now, just ahead of the state assembly elections later this year, the state urban development department has already given indications that a new law to regularize properties that do not have BU permission is on its way.
AMC town planning sources said, “Most of the buildings sealed for not having BU have come up in the last two or three years, and action is being taken against them. Apart from this, action is also being taken against those without fire NOCs.”
On why 1.17 lakh illegal constructions have had not action taken against them for a decade, the official admitted, “Under the impact fee law, many did not submit building plans showing their illegal construction and in some cases people did not even appeal even after their applications were rejected.”
The official added, “In certain cases we found buildings did not have NOCs for elevators and their GRUD Act applications had to be rejected.”
The official said in the case of illegal construction in Gujarat Housing Board colonies, “The AMC had asked for NOCs from the Gujarat Housing Board (GHB), which obviously the owner could not procure from the GHB and their applications were rejected.”
“In cases of illegal construction on common plots of societies, a resolution was to be passed in by the society to regularize the construction, but even that was not submitted in many cases,” the official said.
