PIL slams AMC, AUDA; seeks strict implementation of GDCR norms

A PIL filed before the Gujarat High Court today has sought its intervention to strictly implement General Development Control Regulation (GDCR) norms which make structural inspection of all buildings mandatory to ensure safety of their occupants.
The petitioner cited that several lives were lost in a major earthquake that had hit Gujarat in 2001. In the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, nearly 10,000 people had lost their lives in Gujarat and many highrise buildings collapsed in Ahmedabad city killing hundreds.
A high court bench of acting Chief Justice V M Sahai and Justice R P Dholaria issued notices to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) as well as Gujarat government and kept the matter for further hearing on June 9.

The public interest litigation (PIL) filed by city-based NGO Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers and Architects (GICEA) cited provisions laid out in GDCR under Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976.
As per GDCR, it is mandatory for owners of buildings to get them inspected by registered structural engineers and submit reports to respondent authorities including AMC as well as AUDA, the PIL stated.
The PIL said that GDCR also makes it mandatory for periodic structural inspection of these buildings to check if they are safe for human habitation.
The PIL stated that periodic inspection of buildings is necessary since National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) considers the city to be within Seismic Zone-III, which falls in the severe intensity zone.