Guv clears Bill allowing KMC to issue occupancy doc to residents of damaged bldgs

Following the Governor’s clearance of a pending Bill, the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department has issued a notification that will allow the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to issue a ‘certificate of occupancy’ to inhabitants of dilapidated properties in the city who may now either shift elsewhere temporarily during the reconstruction work of the building or can erect a temporary structure within the premises for rehabilitation purposes before development work begins.

The Bill concerned, ‘Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022’, was passed in the state Assembly last year. However, the bill was pending with Raj Bhavan for Governor’s assent. Following its clearance the UDMA has issued a notification. As per the notification, the Bill is effective from June 09.

With the amendment, a new proviso has been added to Clause V of Section 412A of the Act which states that “provided that the Municipal Commissioner may, if satisfied that it is expedient so to do, secure the safety of the occupiers of the dilapidated building, by order direct the occupiers thereof, immediately to vacate the premises and that they will have right to erect temporary structure in the said premises for rehabilitation after demolition of dilapidated building prior to the commencement of development work which the landlord or the occupiers, as the case may be, has to carry out immediately.”

It further read: “Provided further that if the occupiers of the dilapidated building shift somewhere else to facilitate the process of development work, they will be provided the certificate of occupancy under supervision of the Corporation.”

With the monsoon knocking at the door, this has come as a big relief to the KMC since every year several dilapidated structures collapse due to heavy rainfall. The occupants refuse to vacate the premises, fearing once they do so they will not be accommodated again by the landlord once the new building comes up. This has become a headache and an obstacle for KMC in the demolition of such buildings.

There are more than 3,000 insecure structures in the city and out of these nearly 1,200 buildings have been declared as dangerously insecure. A KMC official said that in most cases the tenants don’t want to move out since there are legal disputes between owner and tenants. “Owners say they do not have the money to carry out maintenance while tenants complain that it is the duty of the owner to carry out maintenance since they are paying rent to the owner”, the official said.