Even as the Corporation is trying its best to sort out the complications in the added areas that were recently included, a new trouble has come up in the form of alterations in buildings in these areas that were not allowed by it.

According to M. Velumayil, President of the Licensed Building Surveyors Association, buildings in the 28 Wards that were added recently with the Coimbatore Corporation were built with the approval of the respective Town Panchayats, Village Panchayats and Municipalities.

However, now, the house owners are finding complications in alterations done to the buildings. “Suppose if there are some alterations to be done in a building, we need to get approval from the Corporation. But the approvals are not given based on some grounds,” he has said in a release.

S. Kanagasundaram, the Technical Convener of the Association, said that the rules stated by the Corporation were different from that of the rules laid down by the local bodies. “We understand that there is only a common rule for such alterations, yet officials from both sides give contradictory statements,” he said.

He further added that officials from the Corporation were denying approval as its software (auto DCR) did not register it. “Section 278 of CCMC Act talks about refusal of approval in general but not about specifics. If it needs to be enforced, a bye law should have been passed. Yet, officials are using it,” he told the Covai Post.

Referring to the Tamil Nadu Municipalities’ Building Rules, 1972, Kanagasundaram said that in case of an alteration, only the space of the altered space should be considered. “However, officials are denying approvals considering the size of the entire ground, which is not in any rule,” he added.

Sighting the issue as a nuisance for Corporation residents, he alleged that even loans were not provided as there were no approvals. “We will have to seek the intervention of the court to find a proper solution,” he added.