Checking building bye-laws violations

22/10/2020

Strange it may sound but, the elected representatives of Urban Local Bodies have yet not started giving preference to the strict enforcement of Master Plan and building bye-laws as a result of which violations are taking place mostly with the connivance of the Enforcement Wings. In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) titled "A Citizen Versus Jammu and Kashmir and Others", which highlights violations of Master Plan and building bye-laws, a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Tashi Rabstan in December 2018 had observed, "Municipal laws are framed to ensure planned development within the Municipal limits. The very object of requiring the sanctioned plan cannot be permitted to be obliterated by a person who effects the deliberate and rampant illegal constructions for personal and private gains". "In no circumstances, any person or the authority can be permitted to violate the Master Plan. Moreover, no deliberate violation of the Master Plan or the building bye-laws can be permitted to be compounded", the DB had made it clear, adding "it is only the genuine mistakes while effecting constructions which are permitted to be compounded and no compounding orders can be passed in routine".
Even after numerous directions from the High Court during the past some years, the Government has failed to evolve foolproof mechanism for timely checking violations of building bye-laws and making the Enforcement Wings of the Municipal Corporations, Councils and Committees accountable. Supreme Court also in case titled "Friends Colony Development" had held: "Though the Municipal laws permit deviations from sanctioned constructions being regularized by compounding but that is by way of exception. Only such deviations deserve to be condoned as are bona-fide or are attributable to some misunderstanding and deliberate deviations don't deserve to be condoned and compounded, which ought to be kept at a bare minimum".
The Government has failed to evolve a foolproof mechanism to check violations of Master Plan and building bye-laws at the beginning itself and the Enforcement Wings of the Municipal Corporations, Councils and Committees generally reach the doors of the people who carry out minor violations of building bye-laws but in case of major violations as have been pointed out by High Court few days back they maintain blind eye. In none of the Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Municipal Committee the Enforcement Wing is held accountable for violation of Master Plan and building bye-laws and there is absolutely non-seriousness at the level of officers at the helm of affairs in these Urban Local Bodies as well as elected representatives on ensuring bare minimum violations of Master Plan and building bye-laws. The LG administration should look into the matter and pass directions to the concerned for the implementation of these bye-laws.

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