Unauthorised Colonies: FOR THE NAMESAKE
Isn’t Razing of
illegal buildings illegal | can’t they be put for better use then bringing them
down | Atulay Nehra writes
Pune
Municipal Corporation spent Rs 2cr to raze 900 buildings
Delhi's
demolition drive leaves hundreds homeless
A n old colleague called up few days back mentioning he has
received a notice from MCD and they would be bringing down his 5 floors
building which he got constructed for commercial purposes in Chhattarpur
Extension area of Delhi. As discussed he provided few reasons and managed to
get a Stay Order on his building, BUT his neighbour was not lucky enough for the
same, and the thump and roar of the Bulldozers and falling of roof pulled by
these automated demons broke the early morning silence of the area.
Now, what’s more concerning is not that the building was illegally constructed, what alarms is the kind of money the owner would have invested in constructing the building.
There are few
questions which remains UN-ANSWERED
a. What was the need to bring down / demolish
the said or many other such buildings?
b. With Governments having TOOLS like
SEALING the properties with them , “WHY DEMOLITION”?
To have a
detailed understanding about the illegal move of various Government bodies
let’s analyse this step by step.
A. What’s an Unauthorised colony / an
illegal building / an illegal construction
Unauthorised Colony
A
residential development that has come up on private land without any government
sanctions and approvals is considered as an Unauthorised colony.
An illegal Building
Any
build up structure constructed in an unauthorised area, or not adhering to the
master plan of the area or constructed bypassing the Building By laws of the
zone or constructed with unsanctioned plans is considered as illegal building
B. THE SENSITIVE One’s
Most of the unauthorized colonies have
a. Water connection by Municipal Corporation
(may or may not be there)
b. Electricity connection
c. Land Line telephone connection
VSNL/BSNL/MTNL etc
d. Voter’s ID card “ A VOTING RIGHT”
e. LPG connections
The above
creates lot of unanswered questions for the regulatory bodies as the unauthorized colonies have all or some of the facilities provided by the
government bodies it self , WHY should they call these colonies illegal / unauthorized .
The way out
a. Don’t call these colonies unauthorized when government bodies itself has issued valid identity cards and service to
these colonies.
b. Regularize these colonies as soon as they
meet the criterion of providing safe and healthy living to all.
c. Furnish proper notice to individuals for
changes in the structures of individual houses as required
d. A follow up on the changes should be done
e. Seal the property instead of bringing it
down.
f.
In
case nothing as above can not be done , It is more sensible to create a
centrally controlled database system to make sure that no person gets
facilities as per section B above.
The illegal Mega Structures
A recently published
news by Times of India said Pune Municipal Corporation razed 900 building and
spent 2 crore of taxpayer’s money to execute this demolition
Few Facts
Ø
There
are 78 million homeless in India
Ø
There
is a current shortage of 3 million houses
Ø
Millions
of children still study under trees and open areas
Ø
Millions
of Old Age / Elderly require old age homes
Ø
Millions
of Unemployed youths can not start any business as they can not afford real
estate.
With such
scarcity of houses across India and so called illegal building and colonies
being razed , is it not good to put these properties for a good use as PUNISHMENT to the owners of the property
instead of razing these building.
Few Major Losses after razing of an
illegal building
Ø
The building
as well as plot is devastated
Ø
Millions
of money invested goes to zero
Ø
Property
can not be used until reconstruction
The Way Forward
It’s the time
now when the various civic and other government bodies which are involved in
such illegal activities to start using there grey matter’s and utilize these
building in form of old age homes, low cost housing , schools, hospitals ,
government offices , instead of demolishing and making them useless.
The reason unauthorised colonies are provided electricity, water etc, because they are considered basic human needs, just denying them to someone because of the area they are living in is considered inhuman, hence the facilities are provided. Also not providing them would only spur corruption and illegal mafias.
ReplyDeleteDemolition should be done when the buildings are unsafe. Sealing can be done till the time the same is not legalised, if its a marginal largesse.
Lastly the state needs to do more in terms of providing affordable housing for the poor and elderly. People dont live in slum by choice.
But commercial construction and activities in the areas where it should not be creates lots of issues of commute , parking, safety etc. And hence should be clamped down upon..