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Accounts / Audit

George Town buildings flout rules

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The Hindu        06.11.2014 

George Town buildings flout rules

A number of structures constructed without building approval

A PIL was filed earlier, seeking a direction on illegal constructions in the locality in order to prevent fire accidents—Photo: R. Ragu
A PIL was filed earlier, seeking a direction on illegal constructions in the locality in order to prevent fire accidents—Photo: R. Ragu

: All buildings in George Town have been found in violation of development regulations, with most of the deviations found on higher floors.

Following a direction from the Madras High Court to the Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to file a report on unauthorised constructions in George Town, the civic body has done a preliminary screening of the buildings. This central business district has more than 14,000 buildings with around 25,000 property tax assessees.

The Corporation is likely to ask the owners of over 11,000 of the buildings in the area to submit the original building plan approved earlier. The CMDA is also likely to direct owners of around 3,000 structures, including multi-storeyed buildings, to produce the original plan approval.

The land use in George Town primarily comprises residential and mixed-residential zones. It is classified as a ‘continuous building area’, permitting structures of ground-plus-one floor, with a floor space index of 1.5.

Many of the owners have been found to have obtained permission for a building with ground-plus-one floor, but constructed multi-storeyed buildings. A number of the structures have been constructed without obtaining building approval from the civic body.

A few months ago, social activist K.R. Ramaswamy alias ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy had filed a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to authorities with regard to illegal constructions in the locality in order to prevent fire accidents.

In his petition, Mr. Ramaswamy alleged ‘deliberate negligence’ on the part of the Corporation, traffic police, fire service and CMDA in preventing illegal structures from coming up.

Disaster management expert N. Mathavan said most of the roads are very narrow. “Fire tenders cannot reach a building in the event of a disaster. Vulnerability mapping for disaster management should be done in the area,” he said.

A former urban planning expert with CMDA, however, clarified that a question of violation would arise “only if construction is done newly”.

 

Property tax may go up

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The Hindu        24.10.2014  

Property tax may go up

The Chennai Corporation is planning to link property tax with the current guideline values, instead of old base rates finalised in 1998. This is likely to increase the property tax rates across the city.

Following complaints from residents pertaining to anomalies and inconsistencies in the base rates, the civic body is planning to request the State government to amend the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act to revise the property tax every year based on current guideline values.

The civic body continues to calculate property tax, based on the annual rental value of a property and on base rates fixed 16 years ago.

 

Committee formed to assess property tax

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The Hindu               02.07.2013

Committee formed to assess property tax

Udhagamandalam Municipal Commissioner has formed a three-member committee to take stock of buildings that are yet to be assessed for tax and those that had gone for expansion.

Commissioner of Municipal Administration – Chennai, and Regional Director of Municipal Administration – Tirupur, have been asked to carry out an audit to identify buildings that were not paying exact property tax, according to a release here. Buildings being brought under the audit are: those that are yet to be assessed for property tax, those that are levied a lesser tax compared to the area constructed, buildings that have additional structures, and those that had been changed to commercial purposes. Owners of such buildings should approach the civic body for tax assessment.

 


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