In Uttar Pradesh, strict action is being taken continuously under the zero tolerance policy against illegal construction and violation of land use rules. Under this, Rampur Development Authority (RDA) has taken major action in the case of buildings constructed without map approval in the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University campus and has issued a demolition order.
This action has been taken under Section 27(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Town Planning and Development Act, 1973. In the order, after detailed hearing and examination of documents, 38 buildings constructed in the university campus were considered as illegal construction and orders for demolition have been given.
Rampur District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Dwivedi said that continuous action is being taken against illegal construction in the district. Under this, investigation into the construction of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was started on the basis of the report of the Regional Junior Engineer. After this, a notice was issued to the university management and instructions were given to present its side. The university administration filed its reply on July 8, while a personal hearing was also held on July 15, in which officials and advocates from both the university and the development authority were present.
During the hearing, it was argued on behalf of the university that the village Singankheda where the university is situated was not included in the development area of Rampur Development Authority before September 27-24. In such a situation, there was no need to get the map approved by the development authority. The university also said that the constructions were done long ago and cannot be considered illegal based on current rules. Rampur Development Authority did not accept these arguments.
The order said that even though village Singankheda was included in the development area later, it was mandatory to get approval of the map from the concerned competent body at the time of construction. During the investigation, it became clear in the records obtained from District Panchayat Rampur that only the maps of the Medical College building and Academic Block of the University campus were found approved. No valid approval is available for the remaining 38 buildings.
According to DM Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, the Rampur Development Authority has also mentioned in the order that the university management itself was aware of this fact. Approval is required for construction, as he had obtained permission from the District Panchayat for two buildings. Despite this, other buildings were constructed without approval.
The authority considered this a violation of rules and said that action can be taken against such constructions under Section 59 of the Uttar Pradesh Town Planning and Development Act, even if the area is later included in the limits of the development authority. In the demolition order, various legal arguments presented by the University, in which the Master Plan, Zonal Plan and various sections of the Act were cited, were also examined in detail.
The authority said in its order that these provisions have been misinterpreted, and the construction cannot be considered valid. It was clarified in the order that the basis of validity of any construction is the approval received from the competent authority as per the law applicable at that time. –
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