New projects mired in confusion after post-Taratala audit order

Kolkata: Officials in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) buildings department in the boroughs are facing a catch-22 situation. There is no official notice, but a verbal message from the civic headquarters has made staff stop accepting building plans from citizens and promoters.A KMC buildings department official said senior civic officials verbally told borough officials not to accept building plans until the audit of under-construction high-rises is completed and a report is submitted. The official said the queue is growing every day, and staff are confused about whether they can receive plans without approval from higher officials.Most applicants visiting KMC offices are from areas where construction is increasing.

“We have been watching a growth in the number of applicants in Behala-Joka, Tollygunge-Jadavpur belts and in neighbourhoods that are located off EM Bypass,” said a KMC official.One such applicant is Biren Ghosh from Atabagan in Garia. His application for building approval has been rejected twice by the KMC buildings department at the borough office. Officials told him they had no instructions to receive building plans or approve them on time.

Ghosh said in his application that he needed to start building a two-storey house within a year because his family had fixed his marriage next year.Rita Bose, a schoolteacherfrom Behala, also went to her local borough office to submit a building plan. She has been paying high rent every month and wants to build her own house. “She cameto submit her building plan, but we couldn’t receive it as we don’t have a clear communication from the headquarters to receive and pass building plans until the safety audit on under-construction buildings is complete.

We have communicated our helplessness to the seniors and are waiting for a nod from them,” said a KMC building department official.A KMC official at the headquarters admitted that some borough buildings department officials were confused about whether to receive and approve new building plans. But the official said no written circular was issued on the matter. “I can understand the confusion persisting among a section of the buildings department officials in the wake of the Taratala warehouse tragedy. The verbal order might have compounded the problem,” said the KMC official.The official, however, said some boroughs in central Kolkata were still receiving building plans.