Panchayat:Repo18/Law Manual Page0746

746 THE KERALA PANCHAYAT LAW MANUAL Rule 3

Provided that, for calculation of floor area ratio and coverage and for arriving at the minimum required off- street parking area and width of access to plot as well as the width of street giving access to the plot from the main street, the whole building (existing to be retained and the proposed) shall be taken into account:

Provided further that the addition, extension or new building shall be permitted only if the site and existing buildings are authorised.

(ii) all land which is proposed to be developed or redeveloped for construction of buildings. 3A. Conformity to Town Planning Schemes.- Provisions or regulations in any Town Planning Scheme in force under the 7A[Kerala Town and Country Planning Ordinance, 2015 (Ordinance No.3 of 2015)] shall prevail over the respective provisions of these rules wherever such schemes exist.

3B. Application of National Building Code of India.—Wherever the provisions of National Building Code are mentioned in these rules, the provisions of the prevailing Code shall be applicable.

3C. Exemption in certain cases:— The Government may, in conformity with the provisions of the Act and in consultation with the Chief Town Planner, exempt any building when construction is made

(a) by Government / Local Self Government Institutions or Government Institutions for a public purpose, fully owned by Government and or Local Self Government Institutions;

(b) by those who surrender land to Government or Local Self Government Institutions or Government Agencies for a public purpose, subject to the condition that the exemption shall be applicable to the remaining land in equal proportion to the surrendered land.

[(c) by co-operative societies which were set up and functioning with the Government share and financial assistance and which come under Group B Educational and/or Group C Medical/ Hospital occupancies as provided in Rule 34 of the Kerala Panchayat Building Rules, 2011 exclusively for a public purpose.]

3D. Categorisation of Village Panchayats.-(1) The Government may, for the purpose of these Rules, by notification in the official gazette, categorise the Village Panchayats into two categories such as Category I and Category II.

(2) The Village Panchayat which, -

(i) in the opinion of the Government has significant potential for urbanization and/or special characteristics which necessitate more regulatory intervention; or

(ii) is either partially or fully covered by a Town Planning Scheme published or sanctioned as per the provisions contained in the [Kerala Town and Country Planning Ordinance, 2015 (Ordinance No. 3 of 2015)] in force, shall be categorized as Category I Village Panchayat.

(3) Those Village Panchayats which do not come under sub-rule (2) above shall be categorized as Category II Village Panchayat.]

                                                               NOTES 

The building rules are enacted generally for the benefit of the public, and where those rules have been violated and proceedings are taken for an order for demolition of the building, what has to be decided is whether the breaches are of a formal or trivial character, in which case the imposition of a fine may meet the requirements of the case, or whether they are serious and likely to affect adversely the