News
Mahamaya MW building could be another Buwelikada tragedy in the making, UDA warned
A tragedy waiting to happen on Mahamaya
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has opened an inquiry into an alleged illegal construction coming up in Kandy city.
A senior UDA official said that on a complaint received, a UDA team visited the location at Mahamaya Mw and submitted a report to the head office for necessary action.
He said the complainant would be kept informed of the action to be taken.
The investigations came after a warning was sounded by a landowner that another ‘ Buwelikada ‘ tragedy should not occur again in Kandy. He was referring to the building collapse that killed three members of a family in September.
The copies of the complaint have been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and the UDA Chairman.
The construction is in progress on Mahamaya Mawatha for a six-storey building on 25.6 perches of land with a slope gradient of 31 degrees, above a girls’ school. The height is above the regulated height and it covers a coffee planter’s house built in 1860, according to the complaint.
Complainant Thusitha Paranagama says that according to the UDA’s Planning and Building regulations for Kandy, the maximum height of a building should not exceed 08 meters.
The tragedy that occured in Buwelikad
He says the building in question has six floors and a high roof. The total height of the building will be a minimum of 49 feet, which is more than twice the permissible height for a building in the area.
He says that after a complaint was lodged with the UDA Kandy office, he found that approval had been granted.
In a statement to the Kandy Municipal Council last week, Mayor Kesera Sennnayake said he had brought the matter to the notice of the then Urban Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and requested that the plan be not approved by the Colombo office, but little or no action was taken. He said the council had no power to override the UDA.