Published On : Sat, Jun 24th, 2017

Twin Tragedy : Armors Township was sanctioned 10 yrs after possession to residents!

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Nagpur Twins Electric shock
Nagpur:
More skeletons tumbled out in the case of Armors Township whose builder Anand Khobragade has been arrested for constructing township under the 33 KV high tension line which killed twins Priyansh and Piyush Dhar in Sugat Nagar. It turned out that building plan was sanctioned 10 years after the residents started living in it.

The layout plan of the township was sanctioned in 2005 and soon after residents got the possession.

State energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s office had provided a letter to a publication which shows that NMC’s assistant director of town planning in 2006, Sujata Kadu, had asked Khobragade to shift the 33 KV line out of the township. As per the norms, the builder was supposed to pay MSEDCL to shift the HT line outside his layout.
Kadu’s observation, that the HT line was passing through the township, is contrasted by the spot inspection report, which is now with Jaripatka police. Senior police inspector Uttam Mulak said that it was signed by a deputy engineer and a junior engineer, whose names are not clear. “We are trying to find their identities,” he said. Strangely, current ADTP Supriya Thool claimed that no such report was given to Jaripatka police.

Though Kadu’s directions were not complied with, the final building plan was sanctioned. Thool defended the sanction saying that these conditions were usually checked while issuing the occupancy certificate and not while sanctioning the plan. “In this case, the builder did not seek an occupancy certificate,” she said.

Activist Anil Wadpalliwar trashed this contention. “It is duty of town planning department to verify whether their directives had been followed. They should do inspection at plinth level and after completion of each floor. Didn’t they find anything wrong during these inspections?” he said.

“Norms are not followed by the officials due to negligence and corruption. It is the common man who is ignorant about the rules and thus suffers,” he added.

A builder, on condition of anonymity, said that until 15 to 20 years ago, many builders did the construction first and then applied for regularization. “The municipal commissioner has the power of compounding. However, this can only be done if the construction is compliant with all norms,” he added. The builder also said that citizens should not buy property until all the necessary documents are made available to them.