COIMBATORE: If city corporation officials are to be believed, a majority of the illegal buildings and structures in the city have done a vanishing act in the past one year. The outcome is that the long-winding list of illegal structures compiled by the civic body last year has shrunk drastically. Now, less than 60 structures in the city appear to have been erected in violation of building norms and regulations.

When the city corporation launched a lock-and-seal operation just ahead of the assembly election last year, more than 1,000 buildings with violations were identified and notices were issued to more than 600 such structures. But corporation officials now have restricted their focus to just 57 buildings, which are likely to be served notice. "We have compiled a list of buildings in our limits erected in violation of government-approved norms. There are about 57 such structures in the corporation limits," said TK Ponnusamy, commissioner, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation.

The corporation officials claimed that they were focussing on buildings with gross violations and also those that are not leaving adequate parking space forcing people to occupy space on the public roads outside these buildings. The city traffic police have also planned to take up the issue of lack of parking space inside commercial buildings.

"Our main priority are illegal commercial structures and that too the recent ones that have been either completed or in various stages of construction turning a blind eye to the construction," said a senior official in the town planning wing of the corporation.

The 'new list' of illegal buildings compiled by the corporation includes a few multi-storied structures on Dr Nanjappa Road and R S Puram labelled as 'gross violations'. The last time the civic body initiated action against illegal structures in its limits was in the first three weeks of April, 2011. More than a 1,000 buildings were blacklisted and notices issued to about 600 of them. Many of these were on Cross Cut Road, Big Bazaar Street, Oppanakara Street and other areas in the city. Water supply was also disconnected to some of these structures.

The corporation has powers to give sanction for commercial buildings less than 2,000 square feet area with ground plus one floor and residential structures with coverage up to 4,000 square feet. Any structure, both commercial and residential exceeding these limits, is approved from the Local Planning Authority. However, when it comes to acting against violations, the city corporation has enforcement powers.

The corporation officials also claimed that the action against the structures will be taken only after consulting with the Local Planning Authority. Chennai Municipal corporation's attempts to take stern action against illegal structures in the recent times have ended in a legal battle, with many building owners approaching the courts for reprieve. "The government is likely to issue an order to regularise buildings constructed before 2007, after August 15," a corporation official claimed.

Coimbatore corporation is also facing a staff crunch in the town planning wing and the often deputes its sanitary and conservation workers to carry out action against illegal buildings.