CHANDIGARH: The estate department of the Chandigarh administration has issued fresh guidelines to standardise the procedure for demolition of illegal structures in the city. In orders issued to all administrative secretaries concerned, it has been mandated that the office of deputy commissioner maintains a digital record of the notices issued, complete with an auto-generated acknowledgment.
The DC office must also designate a nodal officer to communicate the information of demolition to relevant authorities, mentioning the specific violations while issuing demolition orders.
In Chandigarh, it is the estate office, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), municipal corporation, and DC office that deal with residential and commercial properties.
The new guidelines were issued on Wednesday (March 5), following the directions of the Supreme Court, aligning with the guidance issued by the Punjab and Haryana high court. These directives were addressed to the chief secretary of the UT.
In addition to addressing illegal structures, the estate department’s five-page circular outlines multiple measures to be taken while issuing building planning permissions, approving architectural plans, and issuing completion certificates for all residential and commercial buildings in the UT.
The move to digitise records for the demolition process aims to create a fair and reliable system, ensuring proper follow-up on the exact date and time against violators.
What’s excluded
The circular clarifies that the directions will not apply to unauthorised structures in public places such as roads, streets, footpaths adjacent to railway lines, or any river or water bodies. Also, these directions do not apply to cases where a court of law has issued a demolition order.
Key directions
1: While issuing the building planning permission, an undertaking should be obtained from the builder or applicant to the effect that possession of the building will be entrusted and handed over to the owners or beneficiaries only after obtaining a completion/occupation certificate from the authorities concerned.
2: The builder, developer, or owner must display a copy of the approved plan at the construction site throughout the construction period. The relevant authorities shall periodically inspect the premises and maintain a record of these inspections in their official records.
3: All service connections, such as electricity, water supply, sewerage connection, etc, shall be given by the service provider/board to the buildings only after the production of the completion/occupation certificate.
4: No permission to conduct any business must be given by any authority, including local bodies of states/UTs, in any unauthorised building, irrespective be it residential or commercial.
5: Financial institutions shall sanction loans against any building as security only after verifying the completion/occupation certificate.
Demolition guidelines
1: No demolition shall be carried out without a prior show cause notice
2: The notice is returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days from the date of service of such notice
3: The notice shall be served upon the owner/occupier by registered post
4: To prevent any allegation of backdating, as soon as the show cause notice is duly served, intimation of the same shall be sent to the office of the collector/DM for digitalisation.
Personal hearing
The designated authority shall give an opportunity for a personal hearing to the person concerned. The minutes of such a hearing shall also be recorded. It is also directed that if the statute provides for an appellate opportunity and time for filing the same, or even if it does not, the order will not be implemented for 15 days.
