Provisional sanction for building plans likely

Provisional sanction for building plans likely

The Hindu

`It will be valid only till the construction is complete'

BANGALORE: To check deviation and violation of building bylaws, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) is planning to issue a "provisional sanction" initially for the building plan of any new construction.

"The provisional plan will be valid only till the construction is completed. During the construction, the BMP engineers will inspect the building thrice. The final sanction will be issued after the third inspection only if it is found that the builder has not deviated from the provisional sanctioned plan," BMP Commissioner K. Jothiramalingam, said here on Friday.

Addressing presspersons after inspecting work on remodelling of the storm water drain network along the Koramangala valley, the commissioner said that the proposal is still being discussed and a final decision will be taken soon.

"After a review of our engineering department, it has been found that our engineers are ignoring deviations during the construction of any building when they can stop them at the initial stage itself. We have studied the Mysore City Corporation and the Municipal Corporation of Reno in the U.S., where such a thing has been implemented," he said.

Mr. Jothiramalingam said he is reviewing the functioning of all departments in the civic body. "I will complete the review of all departments by September 10. A final decision will be taken only after that," he said.

During the inspection, the commissioner noticed that new buildings were being constructed adjoining the drains.

"It is unfortunate that in several places, the building line starts from the retaining wall of the drain. We have this proposal to stop such deviations in the initial stage itself," Mr. Jothiramalingam said.

The building plan is sanctioned if the applicant submits all documents and if the plan adheres to the building bylaws.

"The builders think they have the liberty to deviate to any extent after the plan is sanctioned. While the Mysore City Corporation has been empowered to regularise deviations up to 25 per cent, we can do that to the extent of five per cent only. We plan to be more strict towards deviation and violation of norms henceforth," Mr. Jothiramalingam said.

To stop people from throwing solid waste into the drains, the BMP is planning to impose an anti-litter fee.

"We are already fining commercial buildings if we find that they are throwing solid waste into drains. Texas Instruments, an IT company, has been issued a notice for throwing thermocol into the drain running behind the firm on Airport Road. We will soon send a proposal to the State Government to amend the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act, which will enable us to impose the fee," he said.

He said the project contractors had found that people were carelessly throwing solid waste into the drains near the spots where they have already been cleaned. "Such black spots have been identified. We will educate people and create awareness among them that the drain will get blocked if they continue to do this. We will also install screen barriers at such spots to filter the solid waste," he said.