At least six Municipal Corporations have not taken any action on a circular issued to check and certify the structural stability of buildings housing schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and other public offices across Tamil Nadu, the response to a query under the Right to Information Act, 2005, has revealed
Irked by the response of the Public Information Officers of the Municipal Corporations — Thoothukudi, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Erode, Tiruchi and Salem — that they had no information to share since no action was taken over the years or they did not get a copy of the circular, the Tamil Nadu Information Commission came down heavily on the civic bodies and directed the Commissioner of Municipal Administration to take disciplinary action against the then Corporation Commissioners, First Appellate Authorities and PIOs.
Penalty contemplated
Passing orders on a petition filed by R. Senthil Kumar of Tiruppur district, State Information Commissioner P. Dhanasekaran sought an explanation from the PIOs of the six Municipal Corporations as to why a penalty of ₹10,000 should not be imposed on each of them for awarding compensation to the petitioner who was denied information under the Act.
Referring to two tragic fire accidents in Kumbakonam (the inferno in a school in which 94 children were charred to death in 2004) and Srirangam (the fire that broke out in a marriage hall leaving 34 persons dead and many others injured in the same year), Mr. Dhanasekaran advised the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to send the 2011 circular of the Commissioner of Revenue Administration on renewing structural stability of buildings housing public offices, educational institutions, hospitals etc once in three years to all District Collectors for compliance.
The case stems out of a petition filed by Mr. Kumar who sought to know the action taken between August 25, 2011, and September 30, 2019, on the Commissioner of Revenue Administration’s instructions to Municipal Corporations on the inspection/certification of the structural stability of buildings in which schools, colleges, universities, hospitals etc were functioning.
Nothing on record
While some of the PIOs and officers holding the position of First Appellate Authority in these six Municipal Corporations said they had no information to share, others said there was no such communication (from the Commissioner of Revenue Administration) on record. Even after the Commission gave an opportunity for the public authorities to give a reply to the petitioner when the appeal came up, they could not provide the required information saying it was not available but assured that they would implement the instructions on the safety of such buildings in future.
