The Hindu         01.09.2014  

Consumer body slams Corporation for poor building rules enforcement

: The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has slammed the Coimbatore Corporation for not implementing the building rules in letter and spirit.

In a release, the consumer body had said that the civic body had been found wanting in enforcing the rules, though the law and a Madras High Court order very clearly mandate it to seal and demolish buildings that stood in violation of rules.

The organisation’s Secretary K. Kathirmathiyon said that at the time of issuing building licence, the civic body said, ‘the construction should be only in accordance with the approved plan.

No electricity and water supply connection is permissible for deviated/unauthorised construction’.

Unfortunately, the civic body, without checking for violation, assessed the building for tax and then provided water connection.

This helped the building owner to apply for power connection as well.

The consumer body pointed out that, till date, the civic body had not denied water or underground drainage connection to even a single building citing violation of building rules.

This enabled unauthorised constructions of buildings without parking space to get water connection from the civic body and power connection from the Tangedco.

The Madras High Court, in its order on a case the Coimbatore Consumer Cause had filed, had clearly asked the civic body to act against such buildings.

The court has said that ‘it is the responsibility of the Corporation to ensure that no building owner, who is bound by law, fails to provide such safety measures’; he pointed out and wanted the Corporation to act against unauthorised constructions.

The Times of India              30.01.2014

Trichy Corporation emphasizes on rainwater harvesting system to save water

TRICHY: As the district has been facing acute water shortage, the Trichy Corporation has decided to spruce up all the rainwater harvesting systems (RWH) to increase the groundwater table.

Speaking at a workshop on 'rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling,' corporation commissioner V P Thandapani said that an effective rainwater harvesting system is the need of the hour. "Among the recently-constructed structures, only those buildings are given approval, which has proper rain water harvesting set up," he said adding that government buildings, which are under construction, are being installed with rainwater harvesting systems.

The corporation had recently conducted a survey in the city where it found that though 80% of the buildings were installed with RWH systems; most of them were not maintained properly. It was also found that despite the installation of the RWH systems, most of the residents let the water flow into the streets, which should be prevented.

Out of the existing 1,79,000 establishments, nearly 62,000 building need to set up the system. However, corporation is facing difficulties as people have been letting out sewage water into the storm water drains. "Fines would be imposed on people who are flouting the rule whenever found," he warned. Bylaws have been framed by the corporation for preventing the residents from practicing it. The method has been termed illegal and the laws would be gazetted and put in place soon, officials had said in an earlier interview. The corporation has about 650 km of storm water drains running in the city in which rainwater harvesting structures are set up in every 10 m.

On an average, the district receives only 835 sq cm of rainfall and most of it goes untapped as they flow in the low lying areas. To arrest the water flow, the corporation has already divided the district into low lying area and middle area.

The architects, builders and revenue officials who attended the meeting organised by the rain centre, Chennai, were all taken for a field visit to inspect the rainwater harvesting systems in the city.