Construction of independent floors in Punjab result of 'flaw' in laws

Chandigarh, December 23

As the Local Government Department is asserting itself to enforce three-year-old directives on the illegal construction of independent floors by builders on individual plots, lack of coordination between the Local Government and the Revenue Departments has emerged as one of the key factors for the unabated illegal activity.

Missing link

The collector rate list does not mention the category of building such as residential plots, independent residential floors or commercial plots. The sale deeds of illegal independent floors are being registered without the revenue authorities asking for the building plan approval.

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Besides, a well-heeled politician-official-builder nexus in the past has also encouraged the illegal activity.

In case of licensed colonies and illegal but approved colonies, the sanctioned layout plans of the respective builder are not uploaded on e-Naksha portal by the Local Government.

Due to lack of communication between the two departments, the collector rate list does not mention the category of building such as residential plots, independent residential floors or commercial plots in the respective project.

Local Government Minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjer said the AAP government was enforcing the law and illegal activity would not be allowed in the state.

“There are inherent flaws in the municipal laws. These allow builders to construct independent floors by getting plans of houses approved. The ground coverage of houses of up to 150 sqm has been increased to 90 per cent. The FAR has increased to 1:2.00 and the maximum height permissible has gone up to 50 ft. All these provisions are in direct conflict with the national building code 2005. These provisions encourage construction of independent floors,” admitted an official.

Meanwhile, Gurvinder Lamba, president, Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers’ Association, said, “At the time of issuing a licence to coloniser, a copy goes to the Deputy Commissioner. He can instruct the sub registrar to update the record. Instead of targeting builders, the government should find out a practical solution as lot of public money is involved.”