Gujarat grants relief to buildings yet to obtain BU permission

The Gujarat government has given relief at least till March 31, 2022, to those buildings which did not follow construction norms and are yet to receive the Building Use (BU) permission. The state government has granted relief to buildings with no BU permission till three months from the last day of Gujarat Epidemic Diseases, Covid-19 Regulations applicability. The Gujarat government said that the state is overburdened with work in the Covid-19 pandemic and does not want to disturb people's livelihood throughout these times. Acknowledging that the epidemic regulations came into effect on March 13, 2020, with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and have been made applicable till 31st December 3, indicating that buildings without BU permission would be forgiven coercive action such as sealing, at least till March 31, 2022. In an announcement issued on July 8, the urban development and urban housing department has ordered every civic body to take proactive relevant measures for agreement of BU permission but directed the authorities from taking coercive action against these buildings for violation of development control regulations, including height restrictions, change of use margin, and those without having valid BU permission till at least March 31, 2022. Gujarat high court has been pressuring the state government and has asked it to come up with a concrete solution for the illegal structures in four weeks. During a hearing on July 9, the state government presented that it is trying to deal with the problem. The strict and quick execution could lead to the destruction of 90% of these buildings. The other option that the government had is to bring in additional impact fee law to regularise these constructions. Currently, the administration is occupied with vaccination work and health and medical infrastructure growth. Under Section 122 of the Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976, leniency was shown by issuing regulations. The reason cited for the relaxation is that restrictive measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic have affected construction activities of real estate projects over the state. Image Source Also read: Nagpur Improvement Trust extends deadline for ground rent payment Also read: Maha govt offers double bonuses to builders for redevelopment projects