New Delhi: A public interest writ petition has been filed for a direction to the Centre and Tamil nadu government to take stringent action against the builders who violated the laws and rules in constructing multi-storeyed buildings.
In their petition advocates N. Rajaraman and R. Krishnamurthy said in the recent 11-storeyed building collapse at Moulivakkam near Chennai on June 28, several people had died and several others had been trapped and even as rescue operations were on, more deaths were feared as people were caught under the debris.
They said “State Government Officials like revenue, C.M.D.A (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority), DTP (District Town Planning Authority), fire and rescue services, Hydrologist Constituted under the Central Wetlands Regulatory Authority have measurably failed to uphold the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. There are so many buildings under construction on wetland like water bodies especially near in Chennai in Tamil Nadu.”
They said under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, the State Government should identify and classify the wetlands within their respective territories in accordance with the criteria specified under Rule 3 (Protected Wetlands) and submit the same to the authority. Though four years had passed, no State had submitted the report under the said Rule to the Central Wetland Regulatory Authority.
They contended that most of the buildings in the country particularly in the Chennai had been constructed by the builders by throwing to winds all the norms and regulations of the CMDA & DTP Rules and other regulations endangering the safety of the people in connivance with State government officials. They said “the Chennai building collapse incident is the saddest example of the illegal constructions and constructions on water bodies (Wet Lands) or near catchment area of the wetlands. The State Government as well as Union of India must ensure the safety and security of the citizens of the multi-storeyed buildings. If the multi-storeyed buildings were found to be unstable by the authority they ought to be demolished in accordance with law.
They prayed for a direction to the Centre and the State to take stringent action against the violators and a direction to pay Rs. 25 lakhs as compensation to the victims in the tragedy.
