Law to penalise builders forming illegal layouts, apartments

Law Minister T B Jayachandra on Friday said a new law would be in place in the State to penalise builders who form illegal layouts and construct apartments. The law will also punish officials who collude with such builders.

The minister told reporters here that the present law levied penalty only on owners of illegal structures as there was no provision in the law to directly punish the builders. The government now intends to take action against the  builders, too, he said. The proposed law would also make officials concerned responsible for the formation of illegal layouts and construction of apartments.

If efforts are not made by officials to prevent illegalities, they would face action, he said.

Date extendedThe minister, referring to the regularisation of illegal structures (widely known as Akrama-Sakrama) said the last date for submitting applications seeking regularisation would be extended to May 31. Applications were being received from across the State, he said.

In cities, illegal structures on 20x30 ft plots would be regularised. This rule is not applicable to those who have built houses on sites belonging to the city development authorities.

Earlier, the government had decided to regularise houses built on sites with a 60x40 ft dimension in rural areas. But now, it has been extended even to houses on 50x80 ft sites.