THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : When common citizens who own land near the Defence establishment area are fighting hard to construct a house due to the non-issuance of NOC from the City Corporation, a 12-storey flat here is nearing completion without any hindrance from the Corporation. An RTI query revealed no proposal regarding this project was received from the Corporation for grant of NOC at the Pangode military station.
A defence circular of 2011 imposes restrictions on construction near military camps. Any redevelopment or construction of buildings located within a 100-metre (two-storey buildings) and 500 metre-radius (multi-storey building) of defence establishments requires a NOC from the Corporation under the Kerala Municipal Building Rules (KMBR).
Even though in October 2016, the Ministry of Defence amended the guidelines for issuing an NOC in this regard in 342 Army stations following representations from various quarters, the Pangode military station was not included in the list.“Many such constructions are going on in the area, we are being denied permission from the Corporation due to the NOC issue, but there seem to be no restrictions on multi-storey buildings,” said Mahesh (name changed), a resident of Poojapura who is unable to construct a house in his property due to the non-issuance of NOC.
Express accessed an RTI to the Pangode military station asking about the NOC permitted to the 12-storey building project of PTC Basil Lofts near to the army camp. The response received from the station headquarters was that no proposal regarding such a project was received from the Corporation, for grant of NOC.
The Corporation engineers have no proper information regarding the NOC issued to the particular flat. “No such file has been forwarded for permitting construction during my tenure,” said S Deepa, Corporation secretary. “Many files which have been rejected by the military station without permitting a NOC. The Corporation is helpless unless there is any change from the defence ministry.”
When contacted, the marketing manager of PTC builders claimed the construction which is now on the verge of completion, began after issuance of NOC from the Corporation. “We have obtained NOC from the City Corporation, based on which we started construction,” he said.