Now, Longdon Place residents rise against “unlawful and dangerous construction”

Petitioners say that the SLLR&DC capitulated to the pressures of the house owner who is a member of its board of directors

Five residents of Longdon Place have petitioned the Court of Appeal against the “illegal” construction of a four- storey building (with a tall superstructure on top) in their lane adjoining a canal, saying it poses a safety threat to their own residences.

The residents all live in close vicinity to the “unlawful and dangerous construction” at 40/5 Longdon Place, Colombo 7, the two petitions say. All of them use a small lane passing this property, which is owned by respondent Sanath Ranaweera, to access their homes or the main road.

The Longdon Place residents’ case is the latest in a string of litigations filed by various homeowners against high rise buildings around Colombo. In June 2017, eleven residents of Layards Road filed a petition seeking to quash any preliminary clearance issued to Blue Ocean Breeze (Pvt) Ltd or D D Enterprises ( Pvt) Ltd by the Urban Development Authority ( UDA) or Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to erect a building of over five floors in their lane.

Separately, 26 residents of Etul Kotte filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal opposing the proposed “unlawful” construction of a ten-storey apartment complex that they said will increase the threat of severe flooding in their area.

The respondents in the Longdon Place petitions include officials of the UDA, the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLR&DC), Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Department of Agrarian Development, CMC, the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat, the Cinnamon Gardens police, National Building and Research Organization, the Megapolis and Western Development Minister and the Disaster Management Minister.

The petitioners state that: “… the dangerous, inordinately tall, sometimes angular and structurally disproportionate impugned construction, quite apart from posing a grievously dangerous proposition in multifarious ways, also obstructs the natural lighting as well as the flow of air and ventilation to the first petitioner’s residence.”

It is also held that the building is structurally unsound and infirm and appreciably compromised as it “stands upon a foundation which is designed to accommodate and bear the force of ground plus two floors only. The owner has reportedly not carried out the required piling or boring or reinforced foundation constructions that are necessarily required as a safeguard for a structure of this height.

The addition of floors and swimming pool without duly reinforcing the structural integrity of the foundation seriously increases the threat and possibility of collapse or partial collapse of the structure as was experienced in tragic incidents at Wellawatte, Negombo and Ahangama (where three buildings collapsed owing to building of floors exceeding the approved number without necessary levels of foundation and piling), the petitioners point out.

Moreover, the adjoining canal- which stood as a bulwark against heavy rains and flooding of the residential areas--“has been illegally cleared, illegally blocked, illegally obstructed, illegally narrowed down and illegally diverted” by the SLLR&DC. This is in spite of the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat Co- ordinating Committee and petitioners opposing it.

The petitioners state that any form of narrowing of even a portion of the canal poses an unnecessary threat of flooding during heavy rains and impedes water flow. They maintain that the SLLR&DC capitulated to the pressures of the house owner, Mr Ranaweera, who is a member of its board of directors.

Mr Ranweera “has wrongfully abused his powers as a Director of a State Institution, in order to unlawfully confer upon himself a tangible benefit,” the petitioners hold. His “misappropriation” of the SLLR&DC machinery for personal use proves this contention, they state.

The petitioners request Court, among other things, to call for and issue a Writ of Certiorari, quashing the UDA approval granted to Mr Ranaweera’s development plan; a Writ of Prohibition restraining the SLLR&DC from permitting any further clearing, narrowing, encroachment, diversion, blocking or obstruction of the canal; and a Writ of Mandamus on several respondents to direct Mr Ranaweera to forthwith remove or cause to be removed all constructions, developments, erections, improvements that are in violation of the applicable regulations of the UDA Act and the Colombo City Development Plan.

The case will be mentioned on May 31, 2018.