Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Demolition move not given up, says Mayor

Special Correspondent

`Time given to building owners to remove the structures'

COIMBATORE: In the face of reports that political pressure delays the Coimbatore Corporation's move to demolish unauthorised and unsafe structures in commercial complexes, Mayor R. Venkatachalam asserted on Wednesday that the civic body is firm on taking stringent action against those who had violated building rules.

Even as Corporation sources indicated that pressure groups were at work, the Mayor denied any political interference or lobbying by building owners and said that some more time had been given for the owners to demolish the structures themselves following their request.

Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran announced on December 22 that such structures in 573 commercial buildings on Cross Cut Road, Oppanakara Street and D.B. Road. These included 41 buildings in which the Local Planning Authority detected unsafe structures that posed a risk to people. Inadequate fire prevention measures and escape routes for people if a fire broke out or an earthquake or stampede occurred were the defects found in many of these buildings. Lack of proper access for rescue workers during such crises were also listed as risks.

The Corporation had said that it decided to demolish the structures in all the 573 buildings after not getting any response from the building owners to the three notices it had served on them. The Mayor now said that the owners had asked for some more time so that they could arrange for equipment to demolish the structures themselves. "If they do not keep this promise also, we will take action," the Mayor said. "They have sought time fearing that the demolition of an unauthorised structure by the Corporation may damage an authorised one also. So, they promise to remove all the unauthorised ones themselves."

"Only this has held up demolition by the Corporation and not any other reason," he said, asserting the Corporation's position that no leniency should be shown anymore to such structures. "We are focused on removing those with 100 per cent unauthorised structures, apart from those that contribute to problems in parking of vehicles on roads and also to threat to lives."

Corporation sources also pointed out that a low penalty had allowed these violations. Till a couple of years ago, the penalty for such violations was 50 paise a sq.ft. Councillors in the Corporation campaigned for a reduction of penalty citing economic crisis in the city after the February 14, 1998 serial blasts. It was then reduced to 25 paise a sq.ft.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Work on cleaning choked Sanganur Canal begins
Defence cites contradictions in depositions by witnesses; `doubts arise on credibility'
Police get mobile helpline
Demolition move not given up, says Mayor
City police get cyber crime cell
A network that helps `positive people'
Concern over manpower shortage
Serve the country first: VC
All India dog show to be held on January 7
Bharathiar varsity to get new look for silver jubilee
Training on quality management systems
`Traders will benefit under VAT'
Around the City
In Coimbatore Today
Reader's Mail

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu