The civic body has decided to increase the demolition charges recovered from owners of the illegal buildings by five times.
Earlier, the charges for demolishing an illegal construction of around 1,000 sq ft were Rs 20,000. The revised charges will be around Rs 1 lakh.
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials said there was no specific rate card for the demolition work in the past. “Workers demolishing the unauthorized buildings were paid on an hourly basis. The money spent on the work was recovered from the owners of the illegal properties,” an official said.
The amounts would also vary, based on the labour charges and the area of the structures. “The charges slapped on the owners of such structures would also be different,” he said.
PMC sources said the anti-encroachment department had failed to recover these charges in the past. The sources admitted that it was still unclear how the new system would fare in terms of recovering the demolition charges.
Apart from the standalone buildings and properties, the civic administration has taken action against encroachments in shopping malls in areas such as Ahmednagar road, Kothrud and Satara Road.
As per the old rate, the civic body would charge around Rs 20 per sq ft to demolish all types of constructions. After the revision of the rates, the demolition charges will be Rs 100 per sq ft for concrete structures and Rs 50 per sq ft for temporary sheds.
“We hope that the new rates will help us increase and streamline the collection of the demolition charges. It can add to around Rs2 crore to the civic body’s coffer every year,” a senior PMC official said.
Madhav Jagtap, head of the PMC’s anti-encroachment department, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
Civic activists have welcomed the PMC’s move to increase the demolition charges, but appeared unsure over its execution.
“Owners of all illegal constructions should be heavily charged. The step taken by the PMC is a good one. But it will not be effective unless the illegal constructions are identified and demolished,” said Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe of citizens’ group Sajag Nagrik Manch.
