LUCKNOW: Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) asked the owner of the Aliganj commercial building where a fire killed 15 young people to explain why it should not be demolished, while records showed an earlier demolition order against illegal construction was revoked within 2 months in 2016, reports Arvind Chauhan.A preliminary LDA probe found Tuesday that the 3-storey building, housing a gaming and animation studio, pet store and clinic, was being used for commercial activity despite nod for residential use.LDA vice-chairman Prathamesh Kumar said the owner had been told to submit building documents.Property records identify the site as MS/102/D in Sector D of Aliganj Scheme. Spread over 1,992sqft, it was allotted to Vijay Kumar through a lottery on July 11, 1980, under a hire-purchase arrangement. Possession was handed over after an agreement was executed on Nov 4, 1980. In 2005, Vijay and his wife Usha acquired it through a registered sale deed. They sold it on Jan 19, 2013, to Virendra Pratap Shukla and Surendra Pratap Shukla. LDA completed mutation in their favour on Aug 7, 2014.The building plan was approved for residential use on Aug 20, 2014, under a self-approval scheme. But alleged construction beyond the sanctioned plan soon put it in LDA’s crosshairs. LDA registered a case against Virendra in 2016 and ordered demolition on May 10 that year. The order was revoked on July 5 — less than 2 months later. That reversal has come back to haunt the authority after the fire deaths in a building that was meant to be a home, not a commercial hub.
