Thiruvananthapuram | The VACB on Wednesday conducted simultaneous inspections at 68 local self-government offices across Kerala as part of a special drive to detect corruption and irregularities in the issuance of building permits and related services.

The statewide operation, code-named 'Operation Parppidam', was carried out under the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau's (VACB) 'Project Zero' initiative aimed at creating a corruption-free Kerala by strengthening proactive vigilance measures in government service delivery.

The inspections covered six municipal corporations, 30 municipalities and 24 grama panchayats, focusing on procedures related to the grant of building permits, occupancy certificates, building numbers, assessment of building tax and regularisation of unauthorised constructions, a VACB statement said.

According to the Vigilance, it had received information about widespread corruption and procedural violations in these services. Officials allegedly accepted bribes to approve constructions that violated building rules, including those relating to additional floors, mandatory setbacks, floor area ratio, coverage, parking facilities and fire safety norms.

The agency also said certain private consultancies engaged in building-related services were allegedly acting as middlemen by collecting bribes from applicants and transferring the money to officials through online and UPI transactions.

The inspections were conducted on the directions of Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham, as part of proactive measures to identify and prevent corruption in government offices.

The Vigilance appealed to the public to report instances of corruption through its toll-free helpline 1064, phone number 8592900900 or WhatsApp number 9447789100, the statement added.