GUWAHATI, Dec 11 � In what could add to the growing violation of building bylaws amid the mushrooming of high-rises, an under-construction multi-story structure at Suwagpur (under Ward No-32) near Ulubari has allegedly flouted several norms.
Local residents have made several complaints to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) in this regard but according to them, the GMC authorities� response has been indifferent � something denied by the latter.
According to the residents� complaints, the building violated norms concerning the land space required for a four-storey-plus-ground floor building (the plot measures 1 katha 5 lechas) besides not conforming to the mandatory ratio regarding front road width which is hardly 15 feet.
In addition, the vacant space in front of the building up to the boundary wall is also less than the norms of GMC, and the elevation of the building is also not according to the GMC norms of high-rise as mentioned in GMC by-laws.
The residents further complained that various measures concerning the building, its area and the front road � as obtained by the residents through an RTI application � did not match with the measurements done by them.
When asked, GMC Commissioner Puru Gupta said that he personally verified the measures against different parameters except the plot area and found everything to be within the stipulated norms.
�We received a complaint against the building in question but when we verified the measures, we did not find anything in violation of the laid-down norms. However, we are yet to measure the land area of the building,� Gupta said.
The complainants said that the width of the road was 4.5 meters (15 feet) which was less by .75 meter as mention in the information provided by the GMC against the RTI application. Similarly, vacant space from the front of the building up to the boundary wall was 4.7 meters (15ft 6 inches), which was less by .54 meter as mentioned in the information from the GMC. The total width of the road and the vacant space was 9.27 meters (30ft 6 inches). As per GMC bylaws for a Gr+4th floor building, the width of road and vacant space in front should be 48ft, the complainants said.
More importantly, the land of the site measures 1 katha and 5 lechas which, again, is much less than the GMC norms for a high-rise, as 4 katha is a must for Gr + 4th floor structure.
As per Building Bylaws of GMC-2006, for any building above 11.5 meters the minimum plot size should be 4 katha and minimum front setback should be 6 meters but the GMC has violated the basic building bylaws in this case by allowing construction of a building with a height of 16.4 meters with a front setback less than 5 meters, complained the residents.
The residents said that the spurt in construction of high-rises in a haphazard manner in the locality with narrow roads and a defunct drainage would have a disturbing impact on the civic amenities. �We have nothing against high-rises per se but those must conform to the mandatory norms,� a resident said.
