Seven-day notice issued to commercial buildings

Seven-day notice issued to commercial buildings
The Hindu - Staff Correspondent

They do not possess completion certificate and building permission
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# HDMC will evict the occupants and seal the buildings
# List of buildings announced in October and given ultimatum
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HUBLI: In continuance of its drive against commercial buildings of more than 2,000 square feet, in the twin cities, that don't possess completion certificate and are built without taking building permission, the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation has issued a seven-day notice to the owners that it would not allow such buildings to be occupied.

The notice/order issued by HDMC Commissioner P. Manivannan, which was released to the media on Thursday said, "all the persons connected with those buildings in any manner, which are constructed without obtaining building permission as required by section 300 of KMC Act and in violation of approved building plan and occupied either partially or fully, without the completion certificate issued by the HDMC under section 310 of the Act, are hereby informed that the said buildings are in violation of the KMC Act and hence the HDMC has to take such action of not permitting occupation of the said buildings".

The Commissioner has appealed to the owners of such buildings to approach the concerned officers of the Corporation by making a written statement of objections, within seven days of the publication of the notification, i.e. before December 16.

He has warned that if the owners of such buildings fail to file objections within seven days, the HDMC will evict the occupants and seal the buildings.

It may be recalled that the HDMC had announced a list of commercial buildings above 2,000 square feet without a completion certificate and building permission in October and given four-week ultimatum to the owners to take requisite steps.

Number of buildings

M.S. Srikar, Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad and administrator for HDMC, had on the occasion, informed that there were 407 commercial buildings (of 2,000 square feet and above).

Of these 241 had been constructed after getting building permission, but were occupied without obtaining completion certificate. And 166 buildings had neither the building permission nor the completion certificate.

`No need to panic over water tariff'

`No need to panic over water tariff'
The Hindu - Staff Correspondent

Corporation will take the final decision
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# French company entrusted with duty of maintaining pipeline
# There is no move to privatise water supply, says project director
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HUBLI: I.M. Prabhakar, deputy project director, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, has appealed to the residents of the twin cities not to panic over increase in water tariff in areas where the drinking water project is being implemented.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Mr. Prabhakar said that ultimately the urban local body and not the French company Companie Generale Desaux, would fix the water tariff under the project. The French company has been entrusted with the work of laying the pipeline. He said the French company will only be looking after the maintenance of the pipeline and will have no role to play even in bill collection.

The water supply project is being implemented in Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga as a pilot project. There is no move to privatise water supply, he said. Although the funding for the project is by World Bank, the urban local body has to fix the water tariff, he added.

Mr. Prabhakar said a committee of the Commissioners of the urban local bodies, where the project is being implemented, had been formed. The Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation will be the chairman for the committee. It will take the final decision on fixing the water tariff.

In fact the committee will comprise of representatives of the residents, who would be the beneficiaries of the project. They too would be part of the process, he said.

Regarding the opposition of residents in Dharwad towards the project, he said apart from apprehensions among the general public regarding the water tariff, those from the economically weaker sections of the society have fear that they would be deprived of the facility of getting water from public taps.

There are few others who have been getting water supply for years through illegal water supply connections, which will not be possible under the project. Along with them are few vested interests. All these have led to the further confusion among the public, he said.

Mr. Prabhakar said that since the non-governmental agency Rural and Urban Development Association, hired to educate the people has failed to discharge its responsibility properly a notice had been issued to it.

He said steps were being taken to clarify the doubts among the general public.