Bhopal: About 171 buildings identified to be bulldozed around Kaliyasot river are still intact owing to delay caused by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and town and country planning department.
The buildings are located within the periphery of 33 metres of the river, which were to be removed as per the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT). Leader of opposition in BMC Mohammad Sageer said that several complaints have been filed about these structures before the competent authorities but they did not pay heed. “An MLA is opposing the removal of these structures, which is why the BMC is overlooking the NGT order. The number of illegal structures is more than what BMC is claiming,” he said.
On repeated instructions of NGT, the civic body issued orders for their removal but the owners of these buildings filed a complaint. As a result, BMC formed a compliance committee to hear complaints and objections of owners of 171 buildings.
The committee is headed by joint director of town and country planning S K Mudgal. When contacted, Mudgal said that the BMC has not finalised the report on the objections filed by owners as there was no time limit set for it. “Now, I will speed up the process as I have received the report from BMC,” he remarked.
Additional municipal commissioner Mallika Nigam Nagar said that the owners had objected to move stating that the green belt rules were different when they had raised the buildings. They said that existing rules had not come into existence. “After hearing objections, I have sent the report to the committee which will take a final call,” she remarked.
