CHENNAI: The Enforcement Cell of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has only 57 staff members as against a required strength of over a 1,000 members to curb illegal constructions, a report states.Linking the rise in unauthorised constructions in the city to lack of adequate and qualified staff in the Enforcement Cell, the CMDA report, which was submitted to the government recently, states that currently, the enforcement cell has only 57 staff members as against a requirement of 637 staff members. And now, with the city’s expansion, there is a further need for 580 more staff members. The gross imbalance between the number of unauthorised constructions coming up and those against whom action has been initiated is mainly due to the lack of adequate staff and the violators’ total disregard to government machinery because of either non-awareness of the need to abide by rules or because they were fully aware of the inadequacies of the CMDA, the report adds.To top this, the CMDA also has unqualified staff, who are burdened with the responsibility of checking unauthorised constructions and also issuing Planning Permission. As a result, the rift widens further between the number and speed of unauthorised constructions and the number of cases in which action has been taken, both within the city and in the rest of Chennai Metropolitan Area, the report adds. With the Chennai Metropolitan Area being spread over a vast expanse of 1,189 sq km with several exclusive administrative entities such as a Corporation under its Commissioner; 16 Municipalities under the Commissioner of Municipal administration, 20 Town Panchayats under the Director of Town Panchayats, 10 Panchayat Unions under the District Collector and a Development Authority for enforcement, not only has it become difficult to monitor and fix responsibilities for any lapses in enforcement, it has also become easy for the local authorities to pass the buck onto the CMDA with regard to enforcement, the CMDA report said.
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