Taking a serious view of the tragic deaths of two youngsters who occurred due to a building collapse in Sohana, Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain made it clear to the local bodies falling in the district to ensure all the ongoing constructions as per the building bye-laws otherwise serve violation notice to avert any untoward incident in future.
She said that in the wake of the fatal incidents which involved gross human negligence, the respective building branches should be made more responsive and accountable by ensuring timely action.
She said that merely approving drawings is not enough; rather one should inspect the ongoing constructions from time to time to check whether the construction is as per the building by-laws/approved drawing or not.
Deputy Commissioner while taking an emergent view of the situation that arose from the recent tragedy, with ADC (G) Viraj S Tidke, MC Commissioner T Benith, ADC (UD) Anmol Singh Dhaliwal, ADC(RD) Sonam Chaudhary and Chief Minister Field Officer (CMFO) Deepankar Garg, said that the Local Bodies should start afresh surveys to check the constructions to ensure the violations and notices should be slapped to give a chance to remove the violation otherwise to initiate stern action like demolition/necessary action as per the law in the public interest.
Acknowledging the move of the local Municipal Corporation to have already such a survey, she asked the MC Commissioner T Benith to speed up the notice serving process to remove the violations on their own, otherwise the demolition/action as per law would be done by MC on the expenditure of the building owner.
Similarly, urging the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to check the violation in the construction of multistory buildings, she said that the areas outside MC limits should be taken care of by the Authority to ensure no such tragic incidents in future.
She said that the rural areas (Lal Dora) falling under the jurisdiction of Gram Panchayats, a separate letter would be sent to the Rural Development and Panchayat Department for adopting astringent approach towards the mushrooming of high rise buildings in ‘Lal Lakeer’ areas.
Sending a strong message to the violators, she said that the greed to house innocent people in such unapproved accommodations or digging of basements without the approval of appropriate authority would cost them dear from now.
She said that the residents whenever found a building violation or unsafe digging of basements in their surroundings, must report to the district control room number 0172-2219506immediately.
Municipal Corporation, Mohali has also a dedicated helpline No.9463775070 and mail id; [email protected] registering complaints of building laws violations, she added.