Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has found an effective way to identify unauthorised buildings mushrooming across the civic body jurisdiction area. Following home loan verification queries from banks, the civic authorities in the past one year have lodged close to 150 fresh FIRs of unauthorised building constructions mostly in Rajarhat Gopalpur area.
Following intimation to the banks not to sanction home loan to any applicant without verifying whether the building has been constructed as per sanctioned plans approved by BMC, the civic authorities were on an average receiving around 100 letters from the banks every month for verification out of which in around 20% to 25% cases the buildings were found to be illegally constructed.
Like the banks, the civic body has also asked the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) to do the same before providing power connectivity to a particular building.
Civic officials said that these preventive efforts were enabling them to locate where such unauthorised buildings were coming up and to prevent further construction or occupancy. “The banks are sending us letters to verify as we go through the building plan sanction files to get to know whether the loan application has been made for a flat having approved plans or not. We are informing the said banks after careful scrutiny as to the building plan status of the said buildings as the loan applications for illegally set up buildings are getting cancelled,” said an official.
Officials said that they were looking at this as an alternative and effective solution to the unauthorised building problem. “If a promoter of a building does not get any booking from buyers due to rejection of the buyer’s home loan application, the promoter will face losses. The banks will also face questions as despite being informed by the civic body, why had they issued a home loan to the applicant without verifying whether the building plan was approved,” said an official.
The authorities have been trying to conduct demolition drives of unauthorised buildings but were facing strong resistance from locals. “We are trying to identify such illegal buildings which are yet to be occupied so that we can conduct the demolition drive. Once a citizen occupies a portion of a building, it becomes a more tedious process to demolish the building as the occupants need to be evacuated and rehabilitated first,” said an official.