After almost 10 years, it appears that the Coimbatore Corporation is all set to act against buildings built without permission or in violation of the approved plan.
Sources in the civic body said action against such buildings was a part of streamlining the operations of the town planning wing and this time the Corporation would not stop with issuing notices, but take the issue to the logical conclusion – either seal or demolish the buildings and if necessary take the owners to court.
The last time the Corporation initiated such an action was sometime in 2010-11 when the then Commissioner Anshul Mishra sealed more 50 buildings as the owners had built them by deviating from the approved plan. It was the last time that the Corporation took such an action and thereafter there was hardly any, said consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon.
Even in issuing notices to the owners of illegal buildings, the Corporation would follow a standard procedure, said Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara. There would be a record of notices sent and that would reflect in the property tax number in the Corporation’s database, said sources. Such a system was necessary because there were plenty of instances where officials issued notices on their whims and fancies and those notices were never on record, Mr. Kathirmathiyon said and added that the Corporation should number the notices just as first information reports in police stations.
