Shivalik’s BU permission withdrawn

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corportion in a swift move withdrew the ‘building use’ permission of Shivalik in the Ambavadi area of the city. The four-year-old building had developed cracks during the Republic Day earthquake but ironically some structural engineers had earlier opined that it could be repaired.

Shivalik is the first building in the city after the earthquake whose ‘building use’ permission has been withdrawn. Deputy municipal commissioner Vinay Vyasa confirmed this.

Speculations are rife that the AMC withdrew the BU permission apparently bowing to some pressure of a lobby of vested interests.

The Shivalik builder, Chiman Agarwal, was not available for comments but one of his close associates who spoke to this newspaper said that Agarwal was being ‘blackmailed’ by a lobby, which was making money in the earthquake by threatening builders to pay a fixed ransom.

When they refused to do so, the lobby threatened to initiate a campaign to malign the builder and use their influence to get them booked. Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Mr K. Kailasnathan Tuesday night that the AMC had "temporarily withdrawn" the building use permission of Shivalik.
"They have done some constructions, which are not according to the plan. We have served them a notice to alter the constructions as per the plan. After that we may give them the BU permission," the commissioner said.

Negating reports that Shivalik did not have a BU permission in the first place, deputy municipal commissioner Vinay Vyasa said that the BU permission to Shivalik was granted before 48 months.

He said structural engineers have "now given an opinion that the load on its columns had increased because of extra constructions which were not in the original plan." "If those constructions are removed, we will definitely renew the BU permission," he said.

Republished from Asian Age