MEERUT: For any building that appears in Uttar Pradesh, a map – such as a blueprint or home plan – must be approved by an architect.
This is done online.
But earlier this month, the body of an architect in Meerut discovered anomalies – they agreed to 20 maps between April and July 2 this year but the platform showed 56 ratified.
The trail caused what appeared to be a map fraud – thousands of invalid approval was given allegedly by the development authority workers who posed as architects for each of them between Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 Lakh.
And the network, said the architect, spread across the state.
In March last year, the state government changed the portal of the Uttar Pradesh online building approval system to take the process online and minimize human intervention – Maps Building can be made, checked and uploaded on the platform.
But there are two gaps.
To use the platform, what is needed is the architect registration number.
Another requirement is the telephone number.
But because the registration number and telephone number are not linked, someone only with the registration number can enter their own telephone number and get OTP to enter.
The striking gap allows the architect to enter with more than one ID.
So, fraudsters can produce a new ID for an architect and use it to get access.
That was what happened to the architect based in Azamgarh who found 144 approval had been given in Meerut using his name with the second ID made by fraudsters.
“When we relate to him, he said he did not sanction even a map of the building for the past year,” Association of Architect Association Meerut Ankit Agarwal to Ti.
“Our estimate is that at least 800 maps are approved illegally …
even the best architects here will not approve more than 30 maps within a year.” Immediately after the Meerut case, many others advanced.
An architect from Meerut, Anil Kumar Mehra, 75, found that his ID was being used in the authority of the development of the Pilkhuwa Hapur.
“I have given a written statement that says that I have nothing to do with the map approval released in Hapur and request that the map be canceled,” he said.
Another of Lucknow, Tripathi Jitender, found his ID in the authority of the construction of Gorakhpur.
“Dozens of maps approved incorrectly using my name.
This is a damaged system that is misused.
This damages our reputation,” he said.
After the operation was marked, the Head of City and State Planner Up Anoop Srivastava requested all development authorities in the state to submit a scarf wherever this map fraud was reported.
“All Deputy Chairperson of the Development Authority has been asked to look into the problem after urban planning officials meet in Lucknow,” he told TI.
“So far, 18 id like it was made or used cheatly identified …
We tried to plug in the platform gap by introducing digital signatures and connecting them with Aadhaar.”