Tuesday, April 12, 2011

No structural engineers, so no safety certificates

The Times of India on Mobile

NEW DELHI: Almost 10 days after the Delhi government made it mandatory to submit sanctioned building plan along with a structural safety certificate, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has said it doesn’t have structural engineers to issue the certificate and that it would write to the government to withdraw the order.

"We want the Delhi government to withdraw its order banning registration of properties, which don’t have sanctioned building plan or a structural safety certificate. We don’t have the infrastructure to give such certificates to people. We don’t have engineers to give structural safety certificate," said Yogender Chandolia, chairman, standing committee, MCD. The resolution regarding this was passed in the standing committee on Monday.

The committee has asked commissioner KS Mehra to submit a detailed report on the request received by the civic agency regarding structural safety certificates. MCD officials say there is a shortage of qualified engineers who can give structural safety certificate. After Delhi government made building sanction plan and structural safety certificate compulsory, a sharp decline was reported in property registration.

Some offices are seeing just seven to eight registrations per day as against the previous average of 100. Ruling BJP councillors say this is a deliberate attempt on the part of Delhi government to malign MCD. The civic agency admits that a large number of properties in the city don’t have a sanctioned building plan.

"There are close to 30 lakh properties in the city. Properties in unauthorized colonies, urban and rural villages, resettlement colonies, etc don’t have a sanctioned building plan. How will people living in theses areas buy or sell their properties and get it registered?" said Chandolia.

Last month, MCD had empanelled 20 structural engineers, but MCD officials say that still they can’t meet the requirement. "Though we have asked DDA to give us two structural engineers on deputation, it is still not possible to issue these certificates in such large numbers," said a senior MCD official. Accusing the government of making things difficult for the common man, Chandolia said, "The government is aware about the existing situation, but still they have made these certificates mandatory. It will cause a lot of inconvenience to the public and the blame will be put on us."

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