Consensus reached on building norms as residents near Army barracks at West Hill heave a sigh of relief

Meet decides to give building permits based on Kerala Municipality Building Rules

For over two years, people around the military barracks in West Hill, Kozhikode, were living in distress owing to building regulations imposed by the Army. The Kozhikode district administration and the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation took a bold step on Monday to solve the issue that put local people and the Army at loggerheads. A meeting of people’s representatives and the Army authorities convened by District Collector S. Sambasiva Rao on Monday decided to give building permits in the region based on the Kerala Municipality Building Rules (KMBR) and the directions of the Ministry of Defence on NOCs issued in 2016. In case the Army unit had any difference of opinion, it could ask the ministry to amend rules, the District Collector said in the meeting. MPs M.K. Raghavan, Elamaram Kareem, M.V. Sreyamskumar and MLA Thottathil Raveendran had pointed out the difficulties faced by local people as the Army unit did not provide no objection certificates (NOC) for buildings even 100 metres outside its boundary.