Developers of scores of under-construction buildings in the city continue to flout guidelines issued by the civic body, carrying on work without any protective cover or occupying the pavement in front and forcing pedestrians to walk on the
road.
A drive through Calcutta on Wednesday afternoon showed how rampant the violations were. They were there everywhere — Maniktala, Ballygunge, Dover Terrace, Kasba and Panditia Road, for example — and easily identifiable.
Some of the common violations were the absence of any cover around the building that can prevent things from falling into neighbouring premises, heaps of sand and stones dumped on the pavement in front and dust from the site spreading across the neighbourhood.
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that residents of Sunny Park in Ballygunge forced
the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to inspect an under-construction building in the neighbourhood and ask the personnel there to adhere to the guidelines
meant for buildings under construction.
The Sunny Park residents had complained to a senior official of the KMC, which prompted immediate inspection and action. In most neighbourhoods, the violations continue right under the nose of the civic body.
At Ballygunge Phari, preparations for the casting of the top floor of an under-construction building were underway. There was no protective cover around the building.
In Kasba, preparations for casting the fourth floor of a building were underway. There were iron scaffoldings around the building. Bamboo and wooden planks were being used. This building, too, had no protective cover.
A building in Dover Terrace, too, was being constructed without any covering around it.
A building on Ashwini Dutta Road in Ballygunge had put up a green cloth on its sides as a protective cover but there were many openings in it. This was an old building that was being pulled down.
Earlier this month, a 53-year-old woman died after a set of bricks collapsed from the parapet of an under-construction building in Birati, North 24-Parganas. Officials of North Dum Dum Municipality said the structure
did not have any safety net around it.
The state municipal affairs department recently told all municipalities and municipal corporations that the promoters of many under-construction buildings are not taking the measures that are necessary during the construction phase.
The memorandum from the department said: “A large number of buildings are being constructed within various Municipalities and Municipal Corporations without taking any precautionary measures by the concerned builder/developer/owner(s) during construction works causing noise, water and dust pollution.”
Another common violation across the city was stocking construction materials on the pavement adjoining the site, leaving pedestrians with no option but to walk on the
road.
Stacking building materials on the pavement outside an under-construction building is allowed for three months from the date when the building construction starts or till the casting of the first floor is completed, said a KMC official.
But across Calcutta it is common for developers to stock construction materials outside the building long after the first-floor casting is over.
On Panditiya Road, sand and stone chips were lying on the road in front of a construction site though the third-floor casting of the building was complete.
A building in Dover Terrace had bricks and stone chips stacked on the road outside.
The casting of the second floor of this building was underway. The materials were also kept uncovered.
Guidelines issued by KMC earlier had said materials stacked on the road should be covered with a screen.
A senior official of the KMC said sub-assistant engineers, who are now going out every day to identify illegal structures, have been asked to identify these violations, too.
“We will serve notice to the developers who violate the guidelines or owners of the buildings. We have the power to stop work if they continue to violate norms despite a warning,” said the official.
