Most repair jobs in a house do not require clearance from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), mayor Firhad Hakim clarified on Friday after a caller to the weekly phone-in programme Talk to Mayor complained about resistance.
The caller, from south Kolkata, told Hakim that the local police station was not allowing him to undertake repairs. Hakim told officials of the KMC present in the room where he was answering the calls that most repairs did not require the owner to take permission from the civic body.
“Please inform the police that the repairs do not require any permission from the KMC,” Hakim told the officials.
KMC officials and an architect, who later spoke to The Telegraph, said only repairs that involved structural changes, ones that result in a change in the dimension of the property and repairs of cornices and other parts of a building that extend into public space required the civic body’s permission.
For basic repairs and changes like “replacing a mosaic floor with tiles does not require the KMC’s approval”, an official said.
The caller has had a different experience. He told the mayor that he had called Hakim earlier, too, after facing resistance to undertaking repairs and also collected a document from the KMC that he wanted to submit to the police station.
When he went to hand the paper, police officers allegedly did not accept it.
Hakim then reassured the caller saying: “You do not need permission for the repairs.”
It was then that he instructed KMC officials to inform the police station about the rule.
Many Kolkatans have had bad experiences when they tried to undertake repairs in their houses.
Lack of clarity often leads to squabbles among neighbours and also makes residents vulnerable to interference by local political leaders. “Either a neighbour objects or some local leader comes and says the work is being done without permission,” said a residentof Ballygunge in south Kolkata.
Such resistance rattles the owner in the absence of knowledge about exact rules.
KMC officials said Section 3(2) of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Building Rules 2009 specify the repairs that do not require permission from the civic body.
According to the rules, repairs that do not need the KMC’s permission include repairs of a staircase or lift-shaft, whitewashing or painting, reflooring of the surface of an existing floor, and reflooring of a damaged roof without changing the character and dimension of the roof.
Also on the list are setting up of a false ceiling on any floor for air-conditioning, lighting or decorative purposes; plastering and patchwork; creating or closing an internal door or window or a ventilator not opening directly opposite a door or a window of another building; repairing or renewing plumbing, sanitary and other utility services, and repairing of the boundary wall.
An architect said repairs or changes that can alter the structural stability of a building should be done under the supervision of a structural engineer.
“Any demolition of a beam or column should be done under the supervision of an engineer. Such changes can alter the stability of the building,” he said.
Complaints from neighbours alleging that repairs are being done without the KMC’s nod are frequent, said civic officials. “On many occasions, inspections revealed that the kind of repairs being undertaken can be done without any approval from the KMC,” an official said.
To give some respite to house owners, the KMC has also prepared a format that contains a list of repairs that can be done without the civic body’s permission. “We are distributing the list. Owners can put up the list outside the house during repairs,” said a KMC official.
If anyone undertakes a repair that is not included on the list without the KMC’s permission, civic officials will visit the place and issue a notice to the house-owner that the work is being done illegally.
The owner of a property, however, must intimate the KMC in writing before demolishing a building.