‘Building Byelaws 2011 allowed construction of G plus 4’
SHILLONG: The State government has claimed that there was no illegality in granting permission to construct buildings as per Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011.
Earlier, it was based on the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011 that the High Court of Meghalaya found many officials of MUDA guilty of violating provisions of the existing law.
When contacted, Addl. Chief Secretary P. Naik, who is in charge of Urban and Municipal Affairs, on Wednesday said that through a review petition before the High Court to be filed shortly, the State government will present its stand on the legality of Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011 based on which building permission was granted to many persons.
In the last order, the High Court had found that 13 buildings had violated the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011.
Out of the 13, nine owners had gone to the Supreme Court for relief, while two did not approach the Apex Court even as the remaining two are yet to start the construction, the official said.
“In the proposed petition, we will give the views that permission to construct the buildings was granted as per the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011 which had provision for construction of buildings with G plus four more floors without basement and the State government had not defined the basement at that point of time,” Naik said.
The Byelaws of 2011 was amended last year with clear definition of basement.
“The Committee headed by MUDA Chairperson and others gave permission to construct the buildings as per the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011, but there can be some aberrations on the part of owners of buildings when they carried out the constructions,” Naik said.
He also indicated that the enforcers of MUDA may not have visited the sites thereby the builders deviating from the Byelaws.
According to Naik, with the definition of basement as per the amended Byelaws 2015, the construction of buildings has been restricted to ‘G plus 3 or basement plus G plus 3’.
The official pointed that the State government has been contemplating to carry out the amendment to 2011 Building Byelaws even before the Court order.
As per the amended Byelaws 2015, basement cannot be more than 3 meters which means that without basement, the height of the building has been restricted to 14 meters and with basement it would be 17 meters unlike the past Byelaws 2011 which allowed 19 meters.
Earlier, the January 7 order issued by former Chief Justice Uma Nath Singh allowed the CBI to register an FIR and prosecute MUDA Chairperson Ampareen Lyngdoh and 21 others including eight MUDA officials for granting permission to 13 persons to construct ‘illegal’ high-rise buildings in the State.
The ‘illegal’ beneficiaries included sitting legislator Lamboklang Mylliemngap and his father and prominent businessman Modrick Nongkynrih.
However, with the State government set to file a review petition in the High Court, the government intends to vacate the January 7 order of the Court.