Building violations no concern of corporation

KOCHI: State chief secretary E K Bharat Bhushan's recent report that pointed to serious violations by DLF Riverside, a waterfront residential project in Chilavannoor, has opened a can of worms in the city's realty sector.
While the report and consequent revelations rocked the state's bureaucratic and political establishment, the reaction of Kochi corporation, which is allegedly complicit in sanctioning the controversial project, has been smug as usual.
Instead of clearing themselves of charges, the corporation took an aggressive stance with mayor Tony Chammany stating categorically that the civic body would not withdraw the occupancy certificate granted to the project.
Following the chief secretary's report, a surprise raid, conducted by the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau (VACB), in 10 municipalities of the district found rampant coastal regulation zone (CRZ) violations.
The civic body itself put the number of buildings in the corporation area that has flouted norms at a humongous 10,000. But worse, the civic body has no intention of bringing either violators to book or tightening regulations, which may result in more such violations in the future. The corporation is chanting the mantra that "their hands are tied" and blame stay orders obtained by violators from courts and authorities such as ombudsman for their inaction. "As long as there is a provision for regularising unauthorised buildings these violations will continue. The local body in the state is not empowered to take measures like pulling down buildings. The violators can always approach the state government seeking regularisation," said town planning committee chairman K J Sohan. The local body is washing their hands of at a time when the Kerala high court had ordered the demolition of Kapico group's seven-star resort at Vembanad Lake for violation of norms. On July 25, the court ordered the demolition of the resort built on a private island at Nediyathuruthu near Alappuzha within three months. Earlier, the Supreme Court had also ordered the demolition of controversial Rainbow restaurant on the banks of river Periyar at Aluva.
But the corporation has clearly shown reluctance in pursuing such thorny issues in court and have rather let such violations multiply.
The case is same with the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA). Citing the example of MG Road, chairman N Venugopal said, "In 1996, over 600 illegal constructions were identified on MG Road. But the then LDF government regularised these constructions. Likewise, when the next government (UDF) came to power in 2001, they regularised 600 such buildings. It is unfortunate that the process goes on and no one is able to punish the violators." Local bodies say there are forced to provide sanctions and approvals for building plans based on reports and clearances issued by various departments.
According to city-based NGO Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), builders often find it easy to obtain approvals "as there is a lack of coordination between various agencies and government departments".
"The local bodies are often clueless about ecologically sensitive zones, provisions in Coastal Regulation Zone Act, pollution norms or technically and legally sensitive aspects. This is mainly because there are no experts to advise the civic body or the corporation council. The solution lies in empowerment of local bodies as part of decentralisation," said CPPR chairman D Dhanuraj.