Rayagada is considered to be the second industrial and business hub of south Odisha after Brahmapur. Of late, a number of apartments have come up in this town violating statutory norms and procedures.
More than 20 apartments are under construction in Kasturi Nagar, Tumbiguda, Budravalsa, Barijhola, Royat Colony and near Uma Shankar theatre. The builders, who are hands in gloves with the sanctioning authorities, have evaded huge tax and amassed a lot of money from the consumers. There are question marks regarding their construction because of lack of basic documents.
The town planning authority and the municipality officials do not monitor the illegal growth of these apartments. Similarly, the district administration has been co-opted into an unholy fold of the builders. The apartments have used land space to the last of the inch without leaving space for basic amenities. Every apartment needs to have at least 30 feet space around it for smooth passage to extinguish fire and other vehicles. The builders are supposed to avail clearance from South Division Fire office situated at Brahmapur. Soil test certificate needs to be obtained from the proper authorities. The steel design permission has to be sought by these builders and so also earthquake resistance clearance from the Geology department. None of these norms has been adhered to by these builders.
On the other hand, these apartment promoters care a damn for the monitoring authorities for obvious reasons. It is learnt that the builders bring blueprints of apartment plans from Visakhapatnam and replicate those without any hindrance after paying a lofty amount as bribe to the monitoring authorities. It has also come to the notice that the local Area Development (lAD) fund of MlA has been pumped into for this purpose to add to the amenities around these illegal apartments.
This is high time that the local unit of Income Tax Department or economic offence wing or vigilance department acted to stop the nefarious activities.