Present completion certificate to get water, electricity connection in Ludhiana

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LUDHIANA: Recently notified building bylaws mooted a ban on issuing water supply, electricity and sewerage connection before the completion of a building. Residents of Ludhiana will get a temporary water connection, but the permanent connection will be provided only when people show the completion of a building by fulfilling all requirements.

This step is taken to check the wrong practice among the residents of Ludhiana of avoiding completion certificates after the construction of a building.

The completion certificate is a kind of NOC which is issued by the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MCL)after the completion of construction work. A final checking is conducted by the officials to certify that the applicant has followed all the building bylaws. With this practice, rainwater harvesting and fire arrangements can be ensured in all the buildings.

According to the records of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana, around 5,313 applications were received for building plan approval between April 2015 and March 31, 2018, in all the four zones. However, only 168 applications were received for the completion certificate.

A civic official explained that the temporary connection for water, electricity and sewerage is permitted for the purpose of facilitating construction. It should not be allowed to continue without obtaining a completion certificate.”No building should be connected to a sewer line without prior permission of the authority, and without obtaining a completion certificate,”he said.

SS Bindra, Assistant town planner said, “It is the duty of residents to apply for completion certificates, but most of the time people do not construct a building on the basis of an approved plan, and so they do not come for a completion certificate.”

He said that the lack of staff in MCL does not allow them to visit every building for checking. If the condition of a completion certificate is applied strictly then it would be mandatory for residents to obtain one.