BHUBANESWAR: On a day the Supertech twin towers in Noida were reduced to rubble in just nine seconds, questions are being raised about what action the Odisha government would follow for buildings constructed illegally in the State capital.
Around 200 such buildings, identified by the State government, either do not have plan approval or were constructed unauthorisedly by encroaching upon government land. However, not a single building has been demolished due to the alleged inaction of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The State government informed the Assembly last year that direction has been issued for the demolition of around 200 buildings and apartments constructed illegally. Replying to a question of Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati in March 2021, the then Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena had informed that 487 out of 1,643 approved high-rises and buildings in the Capital have been declared illegal.
The Minister had also stated that direction has been issued for the demolition of 200 such buildings and apartments in the city. Prior to this, both BMC and BDA had planned to demolish illegal portions of around 175 buildings after the Odisha Development Authority (ODA) court’s order for the demolition of such structures.
Officials, however, pointed out that some of these structures that did not partially comply with civic norms were regularised under the amnesty scheme. “Some structures have been regularised through amnesty scheme while action has not been taken in other cases due to pending legal cases,” said BDA secretary Kabindra Kumar Sahoo.
BDA’s move to demolish six illegal constructions in Kalarahanga failed after the property owners moved a civil court and it was asked to maintain status quo. He, however, said BDA is taking steps for demolition of structures wherever it notices a blatant violation of norms. Meanwhile, RERA activists said BDA and BMC need to learn a lesson from the Noida incident.
RERA activist Bimalendu Pradhan said many projects including those built by government agencies in the City do not have plan approval. Allottees of different apartment projects are fighting for years against change in the plan without their consent which is similar to the allegations in the Supertech case, he said and added that government, as well as BDA and BMC, should take a cue from the case and take strong measures to check the construction of unauthorised structures and high rises in the city.