MINUTES OF THE 40th MEETING OF THE MONITORING COMMITTEE HELD @ 3.30 P.M ON 15-07-2011 IN THE MAIN CONFERENCE HALL OF CMDA

What the minutes cover

The Minutes of the 40th Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority record discussions and decisions concerning unauthorised or deviated buildings in Chennai. They cover individual regularisation applications, enforcement strategy, locking and sealing, demolition notices and coordination between public agencies.

The minutes also modify an earlier decision concerning St. Isabel’s Hospital. The Monitoring Committee recorded that there was no separate government order for treating the hospital under the institutional use category, so the request to levy regularisation charges on that basis could not be considered.

Enforcement against unauthorised buildings

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Monitoring Committee considered the Supreme Court order dated 15 March 2011, which vacated an earlier status quo order. The Committee recorded that unauthorised constructions, regardless of when they were completed, would attract enforcement under the law in force.

Key enforcement decisions included:

• Priority should be given to rejected regularisation cases involving multi-storeyed commercial buildings and commercial special buildings.
• Enforcement should begin with 48 multi-storeyed commercial buildings for which demolition notices had already been served before 27 July 2007.
• Fresh statutory notices could require discontinuation of use, locking and sealing, and demolition of unauthorised portions, with 30 days allowed after inspection and assessment of the building’s current status.
• Promoters and occupiers should have an opportunity to rectify violations themselves.
• Owners could choose to seek approval under Section 49 and appeal to the Government under Section 79 if planning permission was refused.
• A Special Task Force was recommended, involving local bodies, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Fire and Rescue Services and the Police Department.
• Service agencies could withhold or disconnect utility connections, while the Corporation of Chennai could consider cancelling trade licences and sealing unauthorised portions.

Who may be affected

Owners, promoters and occupiers of unauthorised or substantially deviated commercial buildings may face fresh notices and coordinated enforcement. Applicants seeking regularisation should also note that an assurance without correcting identified violations was treated as insufficient in the Diabetes Research Centre case, which remained not regularisable.

Several property-specific applications, including buildings in Mylapore, George Town, Vepery, Thiruvanmiyur, Gopalapuram and Anna Nagar East, were deferred. The minutes therefore do not record a final decision for those deferred cases.

T. Nagar redevelopment

The Corporation of Chennai presented an interim redevelopment study for T. Nagar. Proposals included pedestrian areas, no-hawking zones, traffic diversion, multi-level car parking and feeder buses, with public consultation planned before finalisation.