Eating joints may get EO breather in 2 sectors

The move follows a proposal sent to the UT Administration by the Estate Office for approval of “allowing certain need-based changes”. Incidentally,the proposal mentions the same need-based changes due to which notices were served on these hotels,restaurants in the first place.

Sources in the Estate Office say that the owners of the hotels and restaurants had given numerous representations in the recent past to the Estate Office to consider allowing them to do need-based changes such as covering of centre courtyard on their premises.

In their representations,the hoteliers had mentioned that over the years,food joints,restaurants and fine dining eateries had undergone a sea change and lakhs of rupees were pumped in to cater to the taste of the public. Consequently,changes were to be made in the way the eating joints look and present themselves. Hence,these changes were need of the hour,stated one of the representations.

After going through the representations and considering the viability of the changes,the EO then decided to get the approval of the higher authorities in the UT Administration for allowing the changes.

A senior official of the Estate Office said,“We also understand the needs of the restaurateurs and hoteliers. However,since we have to follow the rules and seek approval from the competent authority,we will wait for the approval to come before giving a formal nod.”

It was in 2011,when after cracking its whip against erring hotels in Sector 35,the UT Estate Office had served notices on hotels misusing their premises or indulging in building violations in sectors 7 and 26.

These notices were served on over 25-30 violators in the first phase and after a fresh survey,over two dozen more violators were identified.

Like Sector 35 hotels and restaurants,the ones in Sector 7 and 26 were also found to be misusing their basements and backyards for commercial purposes. Most of these hotels had not got their basements converted for habitable use and had turned them into party halls and bars.

According to officials,most of the hotels and restaurants were found flouting the rules and regulations with impunity. While some were found misusing the basements,the others were using their backyards for commercial purposes.