Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

‘High’ penalty for building violations resented

ANANTAPUR: Opposition against the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) announced by the State government through GO Nos. 901 and 902 for regularisation of unauthorised constructions and deviations from the approved plans is gaining momentum among different sections of people.

There is a strong feeling among the people, particularly those coming under the purview of the government orders, that the penalties prescribed for the regularisation are too extracting. The resentment is likely to accumulate further towards the deadline of February 29 for applying for regularisation.

When contacted, regional authorities of the municipal administration department stated that the government orders would be implemented by the civic bodies concerned. On their part, the civic bodies have already printed pamphlets and they are being distributed among public for awareness so that they apply for regularisation of violations.

Stating that penalty fixed for the regularisation was too high CPI (M) leader V. Rambhupal said the exercise would burden the people of Anantapur town by about Rs. 5 crore. The penalty was about 10 times higher than that imposed in a similar exercise taken up by the previous TDP government in 1998, he noted. He demanded that the government reduce the penalty.

Former chairman of Serifed K.A.N. Moorthy felt that penalties of Rs. 200 to 600 per sq ft on commercial buildings and Rs. 50 to 100 on residential buildings are too exorbitant and had no rationale. He explained that unauthorised constructions were a result of connivance of the officials concerned with the gullible public.

The people alone could not be penalised for they were not solely responsible for the violations. Rigid rules and procedures to obtain approvals would compel the public to circumvent the process, he said.

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