The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is planning to deploy a special city-level squad to contain irregularities in the constructions.
The officials are finding deviations from the approved online plan during the construction phase in several instances. This could be due to some people uploading doctored documents to meet the requirements and get online approvals.
So, the civic body has now mandated physical inspection – both pre- and post-construction with a detailed checklist – to enforce compliance with the existing norms. A three-hour dedicated grievance programme will be conducted from 10 am to 1 pm on every Wednesday, starting from November 30, to address the complaints pertaining to town planning wing.
GVMC commissioner P Raja Babu said that it is always better to identify the structures in deviation of the original plan beforehand. “Otherwise, the violators are approaching the court of law and obtaining status quo. The concerned town planning officer has to check all the conditions in the checklist during manual inspection and sign on the document if the building meets all the stipulated criteria. A separate mobile application is also being developed for this purpose,” said Raja Babu.
“We are planning to constitute a special independent city-level squad, who will report directly to the chief city planner and/or commissioner on any violations or issues. The GVMC is also mulling to introduce a separate toll free number to receive complaints and suggestions from the public pertaining to encroachments, building plan approvals, and other town planning issues.
The GVMC will identify a dedicated ground/place for the public in each zone of the city to dispose of the construction and demolition waste. The waste will be consequently transported to the construction waste recycling plant. Otherwise, the unauthorised dumping of C&D waste in the street-side corners or some open places is increasingly becoming an issue,” said the GVMC commissioner.
Raja Babu added that they will leverage the ward secretariat system to bring in these proposed reforms in the town planning wing. “There are about 500 planning secretaries working in the ward secretariats of the city. We will utilise their services for better enforcement and compliance of the town planning rules and regulations,” said the commissioner.
