MUDA clarifies on ‘inaction’ on complaint against ‘illegal’ building
Shillong, Nov 12: The Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has made it clear that building byelaws are applicable to all citizens irrespective of the community they belong to.
MUDA will not hesitate to take action against any violation of the byelaws for the safety and security of the people, said MUDA chairman Wailadmiki Shylla on Monday.
The statement was a reaction to recent allegation made by residents of Lumdiengjri locality that MUDA has not yet acted on a year-old complaint against alleged illegal building construction by one Md Suleman, leading to a question of the byelaws only applicable to local people.
“I want to clearly state here that the law is equal for everyone irrespective of people being a Khasi or Jaintia or Garo or from other communities. Whoever wants to construct a house or expansion, they will require to apply for building permission from the MUDA, which is the competent authority to issue the permission as per the provisions of the Meghalaya Building Byelaws,” Shylla said.
Denying any delay on the complaint that was lodged on October 25, 2023, he said, “We did not sit idle on this issue. In fact, we had taken action as per the byelaws and our action is not biased because our main concern is safety and security of the people of the state,” he stated.
MUDA issued a notice to the landowner Md Suleman on November 22, 2023 directing him to immediately stop the construction as per section 30 A of the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act, 2004 and to immediately appear before the office along with necessary documents and drawings.
“We had issued show cause notice. We had waited for him but he failed to turn up. After this, we again issued a notice to him on February 28, 2024 as per section 30 B of the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act, which stated to dismantle unauthorized construction within 15 days.
Accordingly on March 5, he (Suleman) appeared before the office along with a letter stating that he did not intend to violate the building norms by constructing a building in his plot. He said he is ready to comply with MUDA byelaws. We accordingly directed him to submit necessary documents and drawings,” he said.
“Also, the dorbar shnong had claimed that they had not given him permission to construct the house but as per our record, an NOC has been issued by the dorbar shnong to Suleman based on which we had accordingly processed his documents (seeking building permission),” he added.
Shylla said MUDA again conducted an inspection at the construction site and it was found that the building was constructed not as per drawings he submitted.
“On March 16, we again sent a notice directing him to stop the construction at once as the construction was not as per the drawings submitted by him to the office. We directed him to stop the construction till he is ready to follow the norms. We have sealed the area till they are ready to comply as per the building norms,” the chairman stated.
Asked, Shylla said the MUDA had taken swift action against the complaint filed by the headman of Lumdiengjri.
“On receiving the complaint, the MUDA had conducted the site inspection on October 30, 2023. During the site inspection, it was found that there was a construction of a G+2 building without obtaining prior permission from the MUDA. The office also made other observations and accordingly asked for documents from the land owner. We have also issued an order directing the land owner to stop the construction till he submitted all relevant documents and got permission from the MUDA,” he informed.
Meanwhile, the MUDA chairman said his office has also taken strong cognizance of the allegation made by the residents that there was an inspector from MUDA, who had stated that the land owner concerned does not require to seek MUDA’s permission as he had already got water and electricity connection.
“I want to clarify that this is totally wrong as anyone, who has got a water or electricity connection, still has to apply for building permission. We have set up an internal inquiry to find out whether he had really made such a statement or not. If it is established that he had made the statement, we will take action against him as it is misleading the public,” he warned.
