Monday, March 19, 2012

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Put a stop to these irregularities) that was published in Newsband


Put a stop to these irregularities
There were 21 out of the 23 high-rises on Navi Mumbai's Palm Beach Road which were under a probe for violating construction norms. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had found that 545 buildings in Navi Mumbai had been constructed using more carpet area than what is permitted. These building had several more irregularities. Their Occupancy Certificates were totally different from their marketing brochures. The builders had used space meant for parking, flower beds, etc. to extend the construction area of the buildings.
Complaints have been lodged against such builders to the NMMC Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, Chief Minister and Home Minister but nothing has come of it. The complainant instead gets threatened by high-ranking officials from NMMC for lodging complaints. This indicates that officials from the corporation are complicit with the builders.
The thing is when NMMC scrutinizes the buildings they are unable to spot illegalities. How is that? It is clear that NMMC officials from the corporation are involved in these illegal constructions. Otherwise how can they not notice a difference in the Occupancy Certificates and the actual construction?
One building in Nerul, for example, has used extra and illegal 919 sq. metres. The builder was allowed to construct 3512 sq. metres for a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 1.5. He, however, has used 4431 sq. metres. The builder must have earned an additional Rs 10 crore from this irregularity and the corporation must have lost at least Rs 2.5 crore. NMMC should send legal notices to such builders and if they don't pay heed to the notice NMMC should file criminal cases against them or lodge complaints against them with the Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai. Even the NMMC Municipal Commissioner should look into such matter with all seriousness and take action against not only the builders but also against NMMC officials who are found erring. Let CID probe into the irregularities. Take the matter to the Chief Minister of the state if necessary and get this nagging problem solved for once. Issue a stop-work notice to developers of towers where additional floors are constructed without NMMC's permission.
There are cases where CIDCO officials are allotting plots to private players at rate far below market prices. The government should appoint committees to probe into such cases. Let such matters be discussed in detail in the legislative assembly and let a perfect conclusion be arrived at.
Something urgent and drastic definitely needs to be done to stop these irregularities which if not checked in time can create worse problems in the future.

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