The Punjab Council of Ministers, led by Captain Amarinder Singh, on Wednesday approved One-Time Settlement of non-compoundable violations in the case of unauthorised constructions that have come up in the state up to June 30, 2018, without compromising on fire safety and structural safety standards of the buildings.The Cabinet, that met here today, approved for promulgation ‘The Punjab One-Time Voluntary Disclosure and Settlement of Violations of the Buildings Ordinance, 2018” for all buildings constructed in violation of the building bylaws in the municipal areas as per this cut-off date, according to an official spokesperson.The move is aimed at ensuring that the unauthorized buildings that have come up over the years are aligned to the parking, fire and safety standards across the state as it is no longer feasible to demolish such buildings. Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu told the meeting that his department was also working on a separate policy for a one-time settlement for CLU violations. The issue was raised by Food Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.The Ordinance provides that any person, who has made a non-compoundable building violation till 30th June, 2018 may disclose voluntarily such violation and apply online, along with photographs of the building, to the competent authority within a period of three months. The applicant shall submit the requisite information/documents/Plans and prescribed application fee thereafter within a period of two months.It has been made clear that violation of land use, except conversion of Shop-cum-Flat to Commercial, in the Town Planning/Building Schemes, Improvement Trust Schemes, Urban Estates, Industrial Focal Points or Schemes formulated under any other Act, Encroachment on any public/private land or on public space by virtue of any Scheme or Restricted areas under any Act prohibiting the construction of buildings in a particular area, would not be compoundable.It has also been clarified that the one-time settlement shall be without any prejudice to any disciplinary action already initiated against the concerned officer or official of the Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council or Nagar Panchayat or Improvement Trust, as the case may be, who is found responsible for aiding or abetting such violation.
The non-compoundable building violations in Residential plotted Buildings, disclosed voluntarily, may be settled by the Competent Authority on 'as is where is' basis after spot verification, subject to maximum height of 50'-0'', as one-time measure by realising the composition fee of Rs. 300/sq.ft. of the total non-compoundable area on all floors being compounded under this Ordinance, in the case of Municipal Corporations and Improvement Trusts of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. For the remaining Municipal Corporations and Improvement Trust and also all the Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats, the amount is Rs 200/sq. ft.In the case of non-resident building violations, except where fire safety and public safety/security and public convenience is compromised, will be similarly settled against composition fee of Rs. 1000/sq. ft of the total non-compoundable area in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, and Rs. 600/sq. ft in the other instances.The composition fees in case of Institution buildings shall be 75% of the aforesaid charges for non-residential buildings and for Industrial/Religious buildings shall be 40%. These charges are for maximum 50% excess of the permissible FAR, and for excess FAR more than 50% (maximum upto 75%), double the above charges shall be applicable.
The applicant shall have to make structural changes in the building, if required, to fulfil the requirements of fire safety and parking within a period of two months from the date of submission of details in Form as per section 4(2) and shall also submit mandatory clearances from other departments, if required along with a structural safety certificate that the building fulfils the structural safety requirements as per B.I.S. norms.In case the unauthorised building does not fulfil the parking norms, on the request of an applicant or a group of applicants an alternate parking site within the vicinity not exceeding a distance of 250 meters from the site under reference exclusively earmarked such parking space shall be provided in the vicinity. The said parking lots shall either be owned or in the enjoyment under lease for a continuous period of not less than 10 years.In case the applicant is unable to provide parking space, the applicant shall be liable to pay parking cess equivalent to the prevailing collector rate of land required to fulfil the shortage of ECS.In case the owners of the unauthorized buildings do not apply for settlement of violations or the applicant fails to make structural changes in the building to fulfil the requirement of fire safety within the prescribed period, the water supply/sewerage connections to the whole building would be disconnected without any further notice, followed by sealing and demolition of the building at the cost of the owner.