CHENNAI: The ill-fated four-storey building at Vadapalani was sealed by the corporation last September due to the illegal addition of two more floors than provided in the building plan. However, corporation officials blamed the mishap on owner Vijayakumar’s continued use of the building via backdoor methods.
“Following a complaint by an individual from the neighbourhood, the building was sealed,” said a corporation official. However, when Express visited the premises, there was no sign of any seal by the corporation at the building.
Amidst reports that the building was constructed on poramboke land, corporation officials said the owner had received a patta in 1992 and permission to build a two-storey building (ground floor plus first floor).
“But the owner had raised two more floors in 2004,” said the official.
Also Read: 'They’re not allowing me in'
Following the corporation’s sealing of the building, Vijayakumar had waged a legal battle and the matter went up to the Supreme Court, official sources said. On the apex court’s referral, the case is now pending before the Madras High Court. However, it is unclear if any interim orders were passed in the case by the courts.
NV Ragunath, a retired Chief Planner in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), opined that it’s a common practice for builders to obtain permission for a two-storey building before adding more floors without getting fresh approvals from either the corporation or CMDA.
“For a two-storey building, it is enough to get permission from the corporation. Only for buildings with more than two-storeys, the permission must be obtained from CMDA,” Ragunath explained how the system is often exploited.
“When a person adds more floors, corporation officials typically tend to wash their hands of it, saying the building has more floors, so it’s for CMDA to check the violations. But CMDA officials argue that since it’s the corporation that gave the original building approval, it’s for them to act against the violation,” he said.
Thus many buildings with grave plan violations continue to exist without any problem just as this building has existed since 2004.