Chennai Corporation seals building with kids inside – Times of India

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation sealed a house for building violation in Egmore with people inside.
Civic body officials in Royapuram zone had earlier gone to inspect the house for building violation and found encroachments.
When they went to seal the building on Friday under the Town Planning Act, they did not find anyone living on the premises and the doors were closed.
Hours after it was sealed, a few children came out of the house and found the main gate locked. Neighbours recorded videos of the children and sent them to officials, who later came and removed it.
Zonal officer of Royapuram Tamilselvan said the buildings had deviation and the officials opened the seal once they found kids inside.
“After everyone came out, we again sealed the building. Only tenants were living there and we have informed the owner that nobody can occupy the building without obtaining building permission or demolishing the encroached part,” he said.
As per norms, the corporation must give notices before sealing a building. They should also knock the door and check properly if residents are there.
The civic body has been assessing building violations across the city and are bringing them into the property tax fold.
They are also using GIS mapping to identify the encroached buildings. The civic body recently chargesheeted three officials for not inspecting and issued 704 stop work notices for deviation in building plan.
Eight zones were pulled up for poor performance on issuing lock-and-seal notice.