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With pressure mounting to take action against buildings with violations, Corporation of Chennai is in a scramble to lock and seal illegal structures in the city before the monitoring committee meeting on August 21.

Officials of the civic body have been asked to take action after a survey of violations in areas such as Anna Nagar and Adyar.

The monitoring committee meeting was earlier scheduled to be held on Monday. The civic body is likely to take action against violations in commercial buildings with ground plus three floors in Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, and on L.B. Road, Adyar, in a few days, an official said.

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However, a complete list of violations and the extent of violations in many such localities is yet to be readied by the civic body.

In some cases, councillors were found to be intervening in the process of law enforcement, the official said. They come to the officials early in the morning to get data on enforcement for intervening on daily basis.

The civic body on Wednesday locked and sealed seven buildings in Anna Nagar for violating building norms. Even though officials claimed the structures sealed in Shanthi Colony violated building norms, they are yet to answer the queries raised by the monitoring committee.

A survey of violations as required by the monitoring committee is yet to be completed in areas like Kodambakkam. Repeated attempts by the committee to obtain a revised list of violations in the neighbourhood have not yielded results so far.

The civic body is yet to act on the suggestion of the monitoring committee to form a dedicated team for enforcement action.

The committee has also asked Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to re-examine its manpower requirements for enforcement in areas outside the extended city limits.

Source: The Hindu