Lucknow, Jul 20 (PTI) The owners of the commercial building in Lucknow’s Aliganj area, where a devastating fire claimed 15 lives last month, began demolishing its unauthorised portions on Monday in compliance with an order issued by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), officials said.
The demolition follows an order passed by the LDA’s designated authority on July 10 declaring the commercial construction at Plot No. MS-102, Sector D, Aliganj, illegal and directing the owners to remove the unauthorised structure within 15 days.
LDA Secretary Vivek Srivastava said, “The building owners — Virendra Shukla, Surendra Shukla and others — had themselves started dismantling the illegal construction before the expiry of the July 25 deadline granted by the authority.” According to the LDA, demolition proceedings were initiated after a notice was issued under Section 27(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, on June 23, directing the owners to produce documents establishing the legality of the construction within 15 days.
The first hearing was held on July 7, when the owners’ counsel sought time to file objections.
The objections were submitted the following day, after which the LDA’s Enforcement Zone-4 filed its reply. Following a detailed hearing on July 9, the designated authority declared the commercial construction illegal and passed the demolition order on July 10.
Zonal Officer Madhavesh Kumar inspected the site on Monday after receiving information that demolition had begun.
“Representatives of the owners present at the site were instructed to strictly follow all safety norms, particularly in view of the ongoing monsoon season,” the LDA said in a statement.
The authority has warned that the owners will be held responsible for any accident arising out of negligence during the demolition process.
Officials said the site would be inspected again after the July 25 deadline, and if the demolition order is found to have been only partially complied with, the LDA will undertake the remaining demolition and recover the expenses from the owners.
The demolition order was issued after the LDA concluded that the building was being used as a commercial establishment despite being sanctioned as a residential structure comprising a basement and two floors.
The inquiry also found that an upper floor had been constructed without approval and that the building violated mandatory setback norms.
Officials had further pointed out that the building allegedly lacked mandatory fire safety measures and had only a single access route to the upper floor, where an animation centre employing several people was operating.
The fire, which broke out on June 22, killed 15 people trapped inside the building and triggered multiple investigations into alleged violations of building and fire safety norms.
The LDA has also initiated an internal inquiry into the role of its officials and engineers, and the report has been forwarded to the Uttar Pradesh government for further action. It has also been assisting the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the fire.
Police have so far arrested four people in the criminal case — building owner Virendra Prasad Shukla, Ram Krishna Upadhyay, animation centre operator Tushar Krishna Jaiswal and Suresh Kumar Sahoo. The Uttar Pradesh government has also suspended four officials of the electricity department, fire department and the LDA in connection with the incident. PTI KIS KSI KSI
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