Civic body on course to pull down dilapidated buildings & rehabilitate their tenants in city

kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is in the process of pulling down old structures to make room for new ones with proper rehabilitation of tenants with many owners of old tenanted buildings responding to the civic body's proposal.

Most of the applicants are from North and Central Kolkata, where the concentration of old and dilapidated houses is heavy. In most of these premises, litigations are going on between the owners and the tenants for several years and the owners have failed to evict them.

To woo the owners of old and ill-maintained buildings, the civic authorities have given additional FAR to the builders. The civic authorities are holding meetings twice a month to clear the applications, which are given for a year.

Senior civic officials said many house owners, who have taken clearance from KMC, have not yet started construction as they are negotiating with the tenants so that the latter will move elsewhere after getting money. Though the additional FAR is given to rehabilitate tenants, some owners have negotiated with the tenants, who decide to move elsewhere giving extra benefit to the builder.Secondly, in many cases, the tassel between the owner and the tenants starts after the owner fails to get temporary accommodation for the tenant. The tenant has to move somewhere else when the construction will be carried out by the builder. Meanwhile, the tenure of the sanction plan is lapsed creating further complication.

The KMC officials said they have requested the owners to expedite the process of negotiation so that the construction of the new building can start on time. Last year, a few old and dilapidated structures had collapsed in the city.

The civic authorities have identified more than 100 century old buildings and declared them as 'severely insecure.' The owners have been asked to vacate the premises immediately. There are at least 2000 "dangerous and dilapidated" structures in the city.

The civic authorities have put up notices in front of these buildings.