KMC to issue distress warrants to pull down illegal, unsafe buildings
Times of India | 28 March 2024
Kolkata: In the wake of 12 deaths in a building collapse in Garden Reach, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to issue distress warrants, an express order from the municipal commissioner, to raze illegal buildings that are unsafe.
KMC has already carried out structural survey of buildings in the area and will extend the drive to other red zones, prepare a grade, and take help of the distress warrant to pull down those buildings that are hazardous.However, before bringing down the hammer, the buildings department will have to issue a notice declaring the structure unauthorized.
Distress warrant under Section 411 (4) of KMC’s building rules gives municipal commissioner the power to issue a demolition order if an unsafe structure poses a threat to life. Till now, it has been used to pull down highly vulnerable sections of very old and extremely dilapidated buildings. Civic officials said the warrant would now be used to pull down unauthorised buildings under construction as well.
If a building is occupied, as may be the case in some buildings in Garden Reach, KMC will safeguard the interest of residents by giving them an occupancy certificate that will recognize them as flat owners and demarcate the space that they were enjoying. In order to enable a flat owner to stake his/her claim, the buildings department will make sure that these people’s names find place in the civic body’s assessment record.
“We have started a ward-wise survey of unauthorized buildings in the Garden-Reach-Metiabruz belt. The survey will be extended to other zones where the number of unauthorized buildings has witnessed a spurt,” said a civic official. Some of the other areas selected for the survey include the Ekbalpore-Kidderpore belt, Behala-Joka belt, Tiljala-Topsia-Tangra belt and neighbourhoods off Bypass, a KMC buildings department official said.
“We have identified more than a dozen buildings as unsafe and need to pull them down by issuing a distress warrant that will ensure safety of their residents,” said an official.