Sanction revised building plans irrespective of proceedings in SDM court: Estate dept to officers

If a person has done building violations and has been served a show cause notice for it, the notice would not act as a deterrent in getting him a revised building plan. But it would be released after he gets a certificate of structural stability.

IN A relief for people who have carried out building violations, the UT estate department has told its officers that revised building plans be sanctioned irrespective of the proceedings in the SDM court. If a person has done building violations and has been served a show cause notice for it, the notice would not act as a deterrent in getting him a revised building plan. But it would be released after he gets a certificate of structural stability.

The order by Assistant Secretary (Estates) stated, “It is clarified that passing of building plan or revised plan is independent of court proceedings and they should be released. Rather doing so, it will help in regularisation of some building violations at least. Thus passing and release of revised building plans needs to be delinked from pending proceedings with Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any other officer, exercising the power of estate officer under Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952.”

There are several such cases wherein people have done violations and had applied for revised building plans to get their violations regularised. But the plans had been withheld due to their ongoing proceedings before the SDMs who had issued them notices for the violations.

A senior official told Chandigarh Newsline, “When one does building violation and he is served a notice, there are only two things which an allottee is asked for: either to raze that violation done or get the revised building plan passed. So this order is to facilitate people. Those violations which need to be razed would be razed, but those which are minor ones and don’t affect the structural stability could be regularised.”

People have carried out violations like getting additional pillars or extra doors, making a partition of the room and constructing a balcony.