The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has issued 704 stop-work notices for under-construction buildings where officials found deviations from original plans.
In addition to issuing notices, the civic body has also chargesheeted three officials, including a zonal officer from north Chennai, for failing to enforce norms.
According to construction norms, if a stop-work notice is issued and the violator still continues construction, the assistant executive engineer concerned should be chargesheeted.
Further, the corporation has transferred a superintending engineer from south Chennai for rejecting a dozen building approvals. Officials sources said they sensed that the repeated rejections by the official indicated if he was looking for a bribe to approve the plans and hence, he was transferred to a less significant post, as a proactive measure.
In an internal meeting, a report has been sought on why there were so many rejections in a few zones. Nineteen permissions have been rejected in Sholinganallur, followed by 11 in Thiruvika Nagar and 10 in Ambattur.
Officials from eight zones – Manali, Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Valsaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur – have been pulled up for poor performance on issuing lock-and-seal notices.
Corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said that lately, there were numerous cases of plans being approved on paper but actually there is a deviation. “As a start, we are checking with permissions given in last six months and cracking down on them. Assistant Engineers must carry out field visits and inspect newer constructions at the plinth level,” he said.
He added the officials who are not inspecting are pulled up. “We are being proactive to stop deviations during the construction itself,” the commissioner said.
In a recent circular, the corporation has asked its zonal engineers to ensure that the building plan is displayed on board at the entrance site of all the new constructions. The civic body has also suggested demolition of deviations if stark violation is found.