Govt will consider imposing fine on builders for violations: Jayachandra

Presently, regulation fee is imposed on the property owner

The State government will consider whether penalty can be imposed on a builder for violation of norms in construction and formation of layouts, under the regularisation scheme of unauthorised structures in urban areas (popularly known as the Akrama-Sakrama scheme).

As per the present rules, the regularisation fee is imposed on the property or the building owner and not on the builder. There has been an outcry from a section of the public on the government letting go the builders, primarily responsible for the violations, rather than the owners who purchases the property, scot-free.

Law Minister T B Jayachandra, to whose notice the issue was brought by reporters during an interaction in Bengaluru on Thursday, said, he would examine the matter and also consult legal experts. Jayachandra said he will come out with the stand of the government in a day or two. Earlier this week, the State government announced that it will start receiving applications under the regularisation scheme from March 23. The scheme will see the regularisation of structures and constructions with building violations of up to 50 per cent that have come up on or before October 19, 2013.

Mekedatu dam
Replying to another query, Jayachandra said the government will go ahead with the construction of a reservoir at Mekedatu near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu boundary. Tamil Nadu has objected to the project. Jayachandra said there can be no legal hurdles as the project and the water utilisation was in conformity with the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. An Expression of Interest (EoI) from the interested firms to prepare a detailed project report had received six responses and the bids would be opened soon, the minister said.

Jayachandra, who also heads a legislature committee looking into accusations of irregularities by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) in executing the Bengaluru-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, said the panel recently had gathered responses from the public by making a field visit to the project site.