CHENNAI: Can construction of 40 per cent of a high-rise building be completed within 20 days from the date of approval by the authorities? Baffled over this, a division bench of the High Court has granted an injunction restraining the Chennai Silks from going ahead with the construction. The bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Krishnan Ramasamy granted the injunction while admitting a PIL petition from one Kannan Balachandran, of T Nagar, on Tuesday.
The bench directed the multi-storeyed building committee to appear before it on August 3 with the file and explain under what circumstances they granted approval. It granted an interim stay on the reclassification of the residential areas as commercial. Chennai Silks met with a massive fire accident on May 31, 2017. It was sanctioned permission recently to construct a building with double basement (first basement for two-wheeler parking and second one with mechanised parking) plus ground floor and eight floors.
According to petitioner, the planning permission was granted only on June 21 last. Within a small span of 20 days, 40 per cent construction is completed. He alleged that the planning permission was processed contrary to the development regulations and other rules. The CMDA has violated all norms for granting planning permission to a multi-storeyed building for Chennai Silks on ulterior considerations, the petitioner said. The petitioner also alleged that the present construction was in violation of the national building code and the rules framed therein. Fire safety issues are also not complied with, he added.