Chennai Corporation officials responsible for unauthorised buildings in the city may be dismissed or asked to go on compulsory retirement.
The Corporation has sent a circular to officials, asking them to strengthen enforcement action against unauthorised buildings, pointing to the observation of the High Court that none of the delinquent officials had been dismissed or sent on compulsory retirement in the past five years when a large number of unauthorised constructions had taken place in the city.
According to Corporation records, as many as 1,390 violations had been reported in the 15 zones of the city and 278 buildings locked and sealed.
“The building damaged by the recent fire accident in ward 130 in Vadapalani is one among those locked and sealed. We have asked officials to focus on buildings under construction,” said an official.
Officials will check even the basement and ground floor of buildings to identify setback violations.
The Corporation clears at least 20,000 applications for building approval and planning permission every year.
However, enforcement has been weak in most streets owing to inadequate manpower and delay in filling large number of vacancies.
Cars on streets
“A number of cars are parked on the streets during the night. The number has increased in the past few years. Any street with a rise in number of cars parked on the street during the night is likely to have unauthorised constructions. Teams will screen such streets for violations,” said an official.
Junior engineers will screen neighbourhoods in wards with a large number of violations.
Special teams of officials are also likely to be formed to strengthen enforcement action against buildings with violations.
