The Hindu : CMDA starts penalising violators

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 02, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

CMDA starts penalising violators

By Feroze Ahmed

CHENNAI Aug.1. After a decade's wait, the CMDA, TNEB and Metrowater have finally teamed up to penalise builders for violating building rules, expectedly drawing plaudits from activists and brickbats from builders.

On instructions from the CMDA, the two service agencies have started refusing to provide power and water connections to new buildings if they did not have completion certificates (CCs) or no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the CMDA.

Completion certificates validate a construction as legal and come with a refund of security deposits. But CCs lost their value over the years and builders ``came to accept forfeiture of security deposits as routine'', which contributed to an increase in constructions with plan violations.

But CCs are set for a comeback now. ``We will inspect and issue CCs within 60 days if the buildings conform to sanctioned plans. Without them, power and water supply will be refused,'' CMDA member secretary, P.R.Shampath, said. If CCs cannot be obtained immediately, builders can approach the CMDA for NOCs.

The move is based on a 1992 Government Order which was not given effect to for about a decade due to a court stay order. The injunction was vacated last year, thereby adding to the CMDA's armoury to crack down on violations.

But builders allege harassment. The real estate sector is being pushed to the brink, they say. ``About 500 buildings in suburban Chennai alone have been denied power connections. The middle class buyers here will be affected most by this decision,'' the president of the Chennai Suburban Builders Association, G.Mohan, said.

According to him, it is impossible for builders to follow the restriction of four dwelling units per plot if they had to make profits. ``We do not violate other rules. The Government should penalise gross deviations, but they should consider our case,'' he said. ``The CC procedures are tight and the building rules difficult to follow. It is tough for even builders who follow rules to obtain completion certificates,'' the CMDA coordination committee chairman of the Builders Association of India, R.Kumar, said.

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