The Hindu Business Line : Kerala to amend building rules

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar. 13 The State Government will amend the Kerala Municipal Building Rules in order to regulate the construction of flats, said the Minister for Local Administration, Mr Paloli Mohammed Kutty.

He told the State Assembly on Thursday that safety norms for construction of multi-storeyed buildings would be incorporated in the amended rules. Also, permission for high-rise apartments would be granted only after taking into account the availability of drinking water, space and other facilities as per the National Building Code.

Replying to questions, the Minister said that 152 unauthorised flats had been detected in Kochi and the efforts to detect such structures would be extended all over the State. The amended rules are also expected to ease the problems in constructing buildings in heritage zones.

Evictions

The Revenue Minister, Mr K.P. Rajendran, told the House that encroachments over 12,600 acres of land had been evicted and the same had been pooled to the land bank. The task force, which is continuing the evictions, had taken back 754 acres in Vattavila village and 13.65 acres in Chinnakanal.

The Minister said that cases had been registered against 120 officers, including deputy collectors, of the Revenue and Survey departments in connection with forging of revenue documents. The system adopted for conducting resurvey in Thycaud village in Thiruvananthapuram would be followed all over the State and the exercise would be completed in a time-bound manner, he added.

Task force

The Minister for Ports, Mr M. Vijayakumar, said that a task force had been constituted to find out encroachments on lands belonging to the Ports Department. The task force, comprising revenue and police personnel, would submit its report within three months.

The Minister for Devaswom, Mr G. Sudhakaran, also said that steps had been taken to evict encroachments on lands belonging to various temples in the State.

PTI adds: The Kerala Government will redeploy its employees with a view to improving the quality of administration and to keep revenue expenditure in check, the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac, said.

The Government would think “ten times” before sanctioning new posts in departments, Dr Isaac told reporters after his reply in the assembly on the Kerala Appropriation Bill for 2008. A Cabinet sub-committee is looking into matters connected with redeployment, he said. However, the government would fill the existing vacancies, he said.

Rise in public debt

The State’s public debt has increased by around Rs 2,680 crore in the first nine months of 2007-08, Dr Isaac said.

The State’s total debt which stood at Rs 49,875.18 crore as on March 31, 2007 had increased to Rs 52,557.76 crore by December 31, 2007 as per the provisional estimates of the Accountant General, Dr Isaac said in a written reply in the State Assembly.

The Government had issued bonds to mop up Rs 2,826.23 crore in 2007-08, he added.

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