Inspection of under construction buildings made mandatory in Chennai

Assistant executive engineers and zonal executive engineers of Greater Chennai Corporation have been asked to visit all construction sites in 200 wards, identify unauthorised constructions and deviations at the plinth level and initiate action

The Greater Chennai Corporation engineers will inspect all buildings under construction at the plinth level to prevent violation of the sanctioned plan.

Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has issued a circular asking all assistant engineers, assistant executive engineers and zonal executive engineers to visit the construction sites and identify unauthorised constructions and deviations and take action as per the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971. Henceforth, action taken report against unauthorised and deviated construction in the 15 zones of the city should be accompanied wit plinth level inspection report.

“If any violation is reported at a later stage in a building where plinth level inspection report is not prepared, disciplinary action will be initiated against the assistant engineer or junior engineer concerned,” said an official. Urban planners have stressed the need for inspection of buildings under construction at the plinth level for preventing deviating from the sanctioned plan.

The building owners and developers will be advised about how to proceed further if the construction at the plinth level was as per the approved plan. In the event of deviation from the approved plan, the engineers will issue notice. The Corporation officers have been asked to stop the work in the case of unauthorised construction. The construction will resume only after the planning permission is obtained. The inspection will not be restricted to plinth level alone and would be carried out as per the existing procedure.

After inspection of the buildings in each of the 200 wards, the assistant engineers will submit the inspection report to the assistant executive engineers. At least 25% of the buildings will be counter checked by the assistant executive engineers and report forwarded to the executive engineers in the 15 zones. The executive engineers will visit 5% of the buildings and submit reports.

Every year, more than 20,000 applications seeking permission to construct buildings are received in the 15 zones of the city and many of the applications are rejected. Many buildings that have deviations from the sanctioned plan have also been sealed in the past few days.