JNAC officials crack down on a building at Bhatia bustee in Kadma on Thursday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

After a lull of two years, the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) on Thursday resumed its crackdown on illegal buildings in the state’s steel capital, taking rogue realtors by unpleasant surprise.

Dhalbhum SDO Prem Ranjan said three multi-storied apartments, which were under construction at Bhatia bustee and Ramnagar in Kadma, were sealed for flouting approved building plans.

Sources in JNAC said the realtors had secured approval for G+2 buildings, but were raising G+4 apartments.

Special officer, JNAC, Deepak Sahay added that the action in the densely populated localities was a sequel to their erstwhile drive conducted in elite neighbourhoods of Bistupur and Sakchi.

“We have asked builders concerned to rectify deviations. If they fail to comply, we will pull down illegal parts of the three buildings,” Sahay told The Telegraph and pointed out that Thursday’s action followed after realtors failed to honour notices served.

“We had issued notices to five builders. None of them took necessary steps. So, we swung into action. We sealed three buildings today, two more in Kadma will face the music tomorrow (Friday),” Sahay maintained.

He stressed that the demolition drive was a continuous process and depended on feedback from the civic body’s engineers and field officers, besides from Tata Steel and its subsidiary Jusco, which keep tabs on building code violations while providing water and electricity connections.

“We have limited staff, but still engineers and field officers have been instructed to give feedback on both residential and commercial buildings mushrooming in JNAC area. We have to act when reports of illegal constructions are brought to our notice,” the special officer said.

In March 2012, the JNAC had launched a similar drive against high-rises and marketing complexes in the city. Then special officer Sunil Kumar had sealed over two dozen buildings in Bistupur and Sakchi for mocking basement norms and violating approved building plans.

Bhatia bustee resident Subhas Ghosh is, however, sceptical of the fresh crackdown.

“The civic body may seal apartments flouting building rules, but it would not go to the extent of demolishing them. Had it had such determination, violations wouldn’t have been so rampant,” he said.