PIL seeks action on hospitals, schools for building violations
Chennai
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Dismayed by rampant building rule violations committed by hospitals and educational institutions functioning out of multistoried structures without mandatory safety measures, a PIL filed in the Madras high court has sought action against violators who are guilty of approval and completion certificate (CC) norm offences.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam, before which the PIL of Jawaharlal Shanmugam of Thiruvanmiyur came up for admission on Monday , has issued notices. The matter has been adjourned to November 5 for further proceedings.
Describing himself as anti-corruption activist, Shanmugam said the teaching and non-teaching hospitals located in multistoried buildings have given least importance to patient safety. “There is an imminent danger knocking the doors of these hospitals because of gross negligence in providing patient safety measures,“ he said.
Shanmugam, who argued his own case, said that though water, sewer and electricity connections could not be given to buildings which do not have completion certificates, many buildings are able to get all the amenities due to political and bureaucratic clout.
The PIL-petitioner cited the example of a top medical university in the city and said that despite demolition orders issued to raze structures built without proper planning permission, no action has been initiated for obvious reasons. “This only goes to show that influential people could easily get away with their political might,“ he said.
Not a single building inside the 150-acre campus of the university has obtained completion certificate, he said.
