Noida offers incentives for following building rules, plans checks

Senior officials said they had found flagrant violations of building regulations in villages in Noida. “The problem exists with farmers who have small plots of land. For them, following regulations becomes financially unviable. Therefore, we recommended to the Noida Authority that for buildings that have two floors or less, there should be no requirement that a building map should be passed. Instead, it should be mandated that they must hold an awareness programme in the village about rules that should be followed, and what to do in case of an earthquake. We have also directed that each building with two or more floors should get a map approved by the Authority concerned. However, to give farmers an incentive, we have directed that the development fee — usually charged at the time of registration —- be waived,” Singh said.

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The DMC has also directed the constitution of a body that will conduct random checks on buildings across the district to ensure that they continue to follow norms according to the building bylaws and the National Building Code.

“It is important that once a building is constructed and handed over to a residents’ welfare association, the areas that need to be kept empty for disaster management remain so. A three-member committee with one SDM, an additional CEO from the Noida Authority and an external consultant will carry out random checks. We are also preparing zonal teams to respond quickly in case of a disaster,” Singh said.

Senior officials said in May, there will be at least three workshops on disaster management and preparedness — for residents; structural engineers and architects that pass building plans; and politicians in the district. “The last two groups will be deeply involved in case there is a crisis and should know what to do,” a senior official said.