In an affidavit dated December 22, the Gujarat government has submitted that within municipal areas in the state, its survey has found 1,863 high-rise buildings without building use (BU) permission as of December 20, of which only 28 buildings have been sealed “due to shortage of manpower”. That means only about 1.5 per cent of the buildings without BU permits have been sealed in municipalities.
The affidavits were being submitted in the likely possibility of the Gujarat High Court taking up a public interest litigation concerning fire safety and building safety in buildings in Gujarat on Thursday, December 23.
Also of concern is the fact that 104 hospitals and 301 schools in the municipal areas are without a valid fire NOC, as on December 20.
‘The departments concerned have sealed 52 out of these 104 non-compliant hospitals, disconnected the water supply in 34 and disconnected sewage in case of seven’, stated the affidavit filed by RH Vasava, joint secretary, urban development and urban housing department.
As for the non-compliant schools, 127 have been sealed, stated the affidavit.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation also submitted an affidavit to the HC, filed by town development officer Rajesh Patel, stating that it has sealed 203 buildings and 3,173 units, including units in residential high-rise buildings, that do not have BU permission.
In another affidavit, Rajesh Bhatt, chief fire officer, Ahmedabad Fire Emergency Service (AFES) submitted that the fire department has identified eight buildings in Ahmedabad city where it was found that unauthorised construction would result in obstruction to the fire vehicle in the event of a fire.
According to the AFES affidavit, 1,761 hospitals and clinics in Ahmedabad city have valid fire NOCs, and only 49 of the total 2,474 schools are without the valid fire NOC.
