An under-construction building in the Exhibition Road area. Picture by Ashok Sinha

The tussle over fixing the blame for buildings being constructed in violation of civic norms seems to be heading towards a sticky situation.

Majority of the 449 under-construction buildings identified to be taller than 11m on roads less than 20-foot wide, which are under the scrutiny of the civic body at present, appear to have been built in deviation of the approved layout and building plans.

Registered architects, who have recently submitted detailed reports along with photographs of such buildings to Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), have claimed that additional construction was carried out at a few places even after several months of completion of work against the original plan.

“Around 95 per cent of the 449 buildings are sure to have been made in deviation of the sanctioned plans in some form or the other. Though most of such deviation must be under condonable limits, there are a few buildings in which additional floors have been constructed in violation of the approved maps. Such buildings, where the deviation is beyond the condonable limits, might face penalty and demolition,” said an architect registered with the PMC.

The PMC is supposed to submit a report in this regard at Patna High Court at the hearing of a related case (CWJC- 8152/2013) during the next hearing on August 12. Sources in the civic body claimed that based on the directives to be issued by the high court, the builders concerned would face vigilance cases.

“Vigilance cases may be initiated against buildings, where the deviation is more than the condonable limit. The builders concerned would also be asked to give clarification in such cases and necessary action would be taken thereafter,” said a senior PMC official.

Taking a defensive stance against such action, several registered city architects claimed that they should not be dragged into every case of construction that has violated norms.

“I agree that there are a few cases, where G+4 or G+5 buildings have been built on roads of merely 12-15-foot wide. Moreover, there are cases, where additional floors have been constructed two to three years after completion of the high-rise against the original building plan. Registered architects are responsible for monitoring the buildings only till the completion of construction. We cannot be blamed if people construct additional floors several months after completion of work on approved construction,” said another architect registered with the PMC.

Following the high court order on May 10 in a PIL against illegal mushrooming of high-rises in the city, the PMC had asked all registered architects in the last week of June to submit a report on all building maps approved by them and the periodical inspection reports from the time of their empanelment with the PMC till December, 2012.

On July 2, the division bench of Patna High Court comprising Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Vikash Jain asked the PMC to file a detailed survey report on 449 under-construction buildings beyond 11-metre in height along roads less than 20-feet wide and non-residential construction on land earmarked for residential purposes by August 12.

Sections 36 and 37 of Bihar Regional Development Authority Act, 1982, state that a penalty of Rs 1,200 per square metre is to be paid for up to 20 per cent deviation on the rear and side setback area (patch of land within a prescribed distance from the property boundary on which the developer is prohibited from doing any permanent construction) of high-rises of more than 11m in height. For buildings less than 11m in height, the condonable limit for deviation is up to 50 per cent on rear and side setback and 30 per cent on the front setback.

The penalty for up to 50 per cent of deviation on the rear and side setback area of building is Rs 500 per square metre and Rs 1,500 per square metre for deviation up to 30 per cent on the front setback.