HYDERABAD: Realising that taking down unauthorised floors is not the ultimate solution for taking action against erring owners and builders, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is actively thinking of sealing and locking such unauthorised buildings.
Over the past year, the GHMC’s town planning wing demolished as many as 500 illegal structures which are mostly unauthorised floors built without any valid permission from the corporation.
Builders and owners of buildings submit building plans, but after getting approval, they build as per their own wishes, and construct extra floors by violating building norms.
The GHMC officials told Express that it was found that owners, after taking building permissions for ground plus one, go ahead with additional floors. In certain cases, the town planning wing has demolished these floors by breaking or damaging the central portion of the slab (roof) hoping that the erring builders will not touch the damaged structure. However, the clever owners after keeping silent for few days, repair the damaged portion and use it for various purposes.
Hence, the corporation is now planning to seal and lock the unauthorised floors permanently, so that no person can enter onto the illegal floors. The GHMC wants building owners to only construct buildings based on the plans approved by the corporation and not to convert it for other building purposes, like for commercial activities and illegal floors, said the GHMC officials.
Unauthorised floors are being constructed, as there is a huge demand for giving them on rent.