Vijayawada: Illegal constructions have become a big problem for civic bodies across the state. Even after the implementation of online building plan approvals and stringent guidelines on illegal constructions, builders and promoters across the state are at liberty to construct additional floors. Even the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) in Amaravati is unable to prevent these illegal constructions and hundreds of such constructions in Vijayawada and Guntur outskirts.
The Real Estates Regulatory Act (RERA), notified in March 2017, is still lagging far behind in implementation. Acquiring permissions for G plus 2 and constructing G plus 5 and a penthouse against the guidelines has become a regular practice for builders. Around 300 unauthorised constructions were under construction in Amaravati region and the total illegal group houses across the state is over 2,000, and officials of Municipal Administra-tion are failing to control them.
Low and middle class families are the main target of these constructions, which are available at a reasonable price tag. “Skyrocketed prices have made apartments unaffordable for us. The average cost of apartment in cities like Vijayawada has gone upto Rs 45 lakh and we are opting for group house, despite legal issues, which is available at around Rs 30 lakh,” said K. Rammadhav Reddy, a private employee.
Officials of the planning wing of CRDA said they have kept an eye on these illegal constructions. “Illegal constructions are almost controlled with the actions taken up by the APCRDA. Our teams were regularly organising special drives in city outskirts and serving notices to the builders. We are demolishing illegal constructions after repeated warnings,” APCRDA director (development control) V. Ramudu said.
Builders were seriously opposing the demolitions and approaching courts. “The APCRDA is targeting a set of builders. Officials are showing discrimination in demolitions. Officials, who ignored the constructions in initial levels, are later threatening us and demolishing flats, which is creating huge losses for us. We request the government to give us one more chance for building penalisation under the BPS scheme,” P. Ramesh Kumar Chowdary, a builder, said.
