The fact that the minimum sentence for offences relating to illegal constructions is less than seven years, is posing a major hurdle in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s efforts to curb the illegal constructions dotting various pockets of the city. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is now working on hiking the punishment under the provisions of the KMC Act for unauthorised constructions to make it non-bailable.

Currently, promoters who are involved in illegal construction get bail promptly because the maximum sentence is below seven years, according to mayor Firhad Hakim, “Under the system, the accused promoter gets bail after one day or in the court,” said Mr Hakim. “Had the sentence been more than seven years, it would have become a non-bailable offence.

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The civic body is therefore making efforts to amend the rules under section 401 of the KMC Act,” he added. Notably, after the collapse of a multi-storey under-construction building in Garden Reach resulting in the death of at least 11 local residents, the municipal corporation had intensified its crackdown on illegal constructions. The issue has also quite often been a subject of uproar in the monthly House of the KMC with the opposition councillors targeting the civic body authorities on illegal constructions. Following the Garden Reach incident, the civic body is now intent on curbing illegal constructions at the very nascent stage.

Instead of having to pull down an entire structure, which often becomes chaotic because of resistance of the occupants, the municipal corporation now seeks to take action at the very foundation stage. It has also decided to be very strict with promoters carrying out unauthorised constructions in any part of the KMC limits. “The Garden Reach incident has shown me that the work was not done as per my permission…. The illegal structures are being pulled down and being constructed again which shows that they are not afraid of the laws,” rued the mayor.

According to Mr Hakim, who is also the minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, the proposal for making the necessary amendments has been sent to the state government for hiking the punishment to more than seven years. The amendment is not expected to be passed in the ongoing Assembly sessions but would have to be passed later after getting Cabinet approval.

Till then the KMC is filing repeated FIRs against the promoters and pulling down the illegal structures regularly. The municipal corporation has also urged police to take strict action against the accused. “We have also decided to post guards who will inform the local police stations about illegal constructions being carried out. The KMC would also scrutinise the log books where entries on illegal constructions are made by the sub assistant engineers,” the mayor said.