SUJATA AWALE
People in the Kathmandu valley are supposed to get their construction maps approved from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office (KMC) before constructing their houses. Once it is approved, they are allowed to build a house as per the architectural design specified in the proposal. However, with the failure of KMC to supervise and monitor, many residential buildings are violating the approved construction permits and building by-laws. Such unruly practices are growing rapidly and pose a serious threat to life and property in case of natural disasters.

One such case that has come to light is the residential building at Bhotebahal-11. The building was provided approval to construct a four-storey residential building but it has been constructed a 10-storey apartment building in shocking violation of the approved construction map. However, Sunil Sainju, owner of the building claimed that it stands on valid norms of building by-laws. “Earlier we had planned to construct the building at another part of the land but due to some reason we added extra floors,” he said, adding that now they are in the process of getting the approval for the new structure.

Stating that there is a provision to take approval even after construction, he said, “The municipality is conducting technical supervision for the building and we are sure that although we are delayed in taking approval for our building has been built as per the building by-laws.” However, he did not miss the chance to point towards his neighbours and said, “There are many such residential buildings in the community that have been constructed by violating construction maps.”

This is not a unique case.

As per the legal division of KMC, they get about 30 per cent of the total cases of alteration and violation of the approved construction maps and in the majority of cases these are residential buildings. “The cases of illegal construction have not decreased, rather it is in the same ratio as compared to past two years,” said Basanta Acharya, Legal Officer at KMC. He said that lack of proper monitoring mechanism in construction phase, the general conception that the government will not take any action have encouraged such practice. Stating that KMC is following a very conservative model, he said, “Rather than being proactive to enforce building by-laws and building codes, we are only dealing with complaints that come to us.”

Acharya added, “As the governing body could not stop illegal construction of buildings from the beginning, we are not able to monitor constructed buildings in the metropolitan city.”

Citing that there is a need to amend existing National Building By-laws, he said, “The existing building by-laws is outdated and cannot address the needs of a modern city. Hence, the government should work to amend the by-laws and widen the legal framework to correct the existing situation.” Moreover, he said that there should be strong monitoring for every construction project in the metropolis to ensure safety as well as beautification of the city.

According to him, there is a provision for penalty against buildings that have been constructed without permission but still found to comply with the bylaws, and building code. However, if found not in compliance with these codes and laws, the metropolis can demolish the structure through incorporating the Local Self-Governance Act.

Chief of the Urban Development Department at KMC Narendra Raj Shrestha admitted that there are many cases of illegal construction that have been built breaching even building by-laws and building codes. Shrestha said, “It is because KMC does not have a strong monitoring mechanism.

We don’t have any specific division for monitoring building constructions and so the problem remains.”

Stating that they only scrutinise cases of complaints till date, he said, “We conduct detail technical survey when a complaint is made and we take legal action as per the severity of the building.” According to him, they are aware of the problem and they are working on a proposal to have a strong monitoring mechanism that include urban, legal and enforcement division of the KMC.

source:SUJATA AWALE, The himalayan times,15 august 2014