GLARING VIOLATIONS of building plans came to light in Industrial Area, Phase I, during an inspection carried out by a team of UT Estate Office here on Tuesday. On the instructions of UT Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi, a team of the Estate Office carried out an inspection at a plot in the Industrial Area on which multiple automobile agencies are being run and found violating rules and regulations. The lax attitude of enforcement staff of the Estate Office can been gauged from the fact that flagrant violations on industrial plot number 182\4 in Phase I of Industrial Area have gone unnoticed. The automobile showroom owner had removed the entire concrete wall and replaced it with glass doors and windows throwing the entrance open on the main road in contrast to their sanctioned building plans. The proprietor, Harbir Automobiles, is running dealerships of multiple automobiles on the said corner plot near Ordinance Cable Factory, measuring 3 kanals. While the building plan permits the showroom’s entrance from the internal road, illegal construction has allegedly been done in violation of the “building bylaws” and “building zoning line”. The proprietor has removed the boundary wall on the North-East side of the plot and raised a show window and entrance to the showroom. The entry and exit on the main road has also emerged as a major traffic hazard for the commuters since the same road is used by commuters as an entry-exit route to the city’s biggest shopping mall. Besides, government land up to the berm of the road has been encroached, which is being used for parking cars not permitted under the rules and regulations. A complaint highlighting the violations was recently lodged with the UT Adviser, Chief Administrator-cum-Finance Secretary, Deputy Commissioner and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (East). The complaint states that there are also internal violations in the building and the construction on the plot is more than the permitted floor area ratio (FAR). FAR is the ratio of the total floor area of a building to the area of land it is built on. Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi on Tuesday directed SDO (Building) Dharminder Bassi to probe the matter. An inspection carried out by the enforcement staff revealed that the entire building plan was changed. “The entire planning of the building has been changed. These changes have not been sanctioned by the Estate Office,” Bassi added. Taking serious note of the violations, the Deputy Commissioner has ordered legal action against the owner. A show cause notice will also be issued to the junior engineer under whose jurisdiction the Industrial Area falls. “We have zero tolerance for violations,” said Joshi. Harbir Singh, owner of Harbir Automobiles, admitted that some violations existed in the building. “The side wall has been removed and some internal partitioning has been done,” he told Chandigarh Newsline on the phone. He, however, added that construction was done within the permissible FAR. Regarding encroachment on the government land by parking cars, Singh said that they were using only that area which was meant for the boundary wall. He added that the remaining area was used by customers for parking their vehicles.
