This year, CMDA has issued lock and seal notice to only one building near Selaiyur on September 14. In contrast, it had issued notices to 15 buildings and sealed as many as 51 buildings with violations in 2019. In 2018, notices were issued to 21 buildings and 7 were sealed.

 According to CMDA data, there are 194 buildings in the city that violated building rules.

 Meanwhile, completion certificates have been issued to 179 buildings this year, which is much lesser than 325 completion certificates issued in 2019.

 “Due to the pandemic, field inspection and lock and seal works were affected. As the city is coming back to normalcy, the usual works will resume,” a CMDA source said.

 Despite the lockdown and shortage of manpower, as many as 552 new real estate buildings have been registered with Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) across the State till October 1. The number is higher than the number of projects registered with the regulatory authority in 2019 when 492 projects were registered.