Patna, Feb. 5: The civic body has asked the builders of the apartments on the dry riverbed of the Ganga on the northern fringes of the state capital to stop all activities regarding the sale of flats.

The civic body’s fresh instruction to the builders came amid the Builders’ Association of India’s (BAI’s) opposition to the Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) move to start a vigilance inquiry into the construction of the housing complexes.

Yesterday, the PMC shot off a letter to the office of the additional registrar, Patna Sadar, asking it to put a ban on registry of the identified under-construction apartments. Officials in the corporation said those who have bought the flats in the “contentious apartments” could not get their property registered till the next order.

“A letter, addressed to the additional registrar in Patna Sadar, has been issued. Besides, builders have been sent notices to stop advertising, booking or receiving payments from prospective buyers,” Chandrama Singh, additional PMC commissioner (planning and development) said.

About a week ago, the civic body had issued a stop-work order to the builders of all the nine apartments between Dujra and Kurji areas beyond the Ganga protection bund.

The corporation had concluded that not only the soft soil of the dry riverbed was unfit for construction of high-rises, there was also breach of building safety norms. It was suspected that some architects registered with the corporation had approved the proposed maps of the projects illegally.

PMC commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal has formed a 15-member committee, headed by chief engineer Ram Swarath Singh, to find out if the projects followed the prescribed building norms.

During an on-the-spot inspection of the identified buildings, members of the technical committee found that the upcoming projects had flouted several norms. A final report is yet to be compiled.

In the meantime, members of BAI’s Bihar chapter have sought to meet the PMC commissioner tomorrow to discuss the issue.

Claiming that it was unfair on the part of the PMC to cancel the maps and initiate the vigilance inquiry against the builders, BAI state president Sachin Chandra said: “The civic body should be sympathetic as the builders had stuck to the prescribed building regulations. Besides, dry riverbeds across the country are now being used for residential purpose.”

During a news meet yesterday, the association had even warned a freeze on investments in real estate in the state if the order was not revoked.

According to sources, there are over 500 flats in these apartments and bookings have already been made for at least 75 per cent of the residential units.

Eagle Apartments, an existing apartment complex near Rajapur, where all 42 flats are inhabited by residents, has also come under the PMC’s scanner and a vigilance inquiry would be initiated to check if the project followed the norms laid down by Bihar Municipal Act, 2007.