More than 720 multi-story residential buildings in Tashkent were built without permits from architectural authorities, Construction and Housing and Utilities Minister Sherzod Khidoyatov told MPs in the Legislative Chamber on Oct 13.

“Before the master plan was approved, many business owners built homes on plots put up at auction. Today this has become a very painful problem,” Khidoyatov said at the “Government Hour” session. He said the buildings were identified in a nationwide inventory check and are now being handled by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The buildings can be considered for commissioning only after the renovation program is expanded and the necessary conditions are created around them, he said. Their structural strength will also be checked through instrumental inspection, and requirements for playgrounds and parking will be set for each building under urban planning norms.

MP Dilmurod Ismoilov had raised a shortage of playgrounds, sports grounds and car parks near apartment blocks, and cases of developers failing to build facilities specified in project designs.

Khidoyatov said tighter oversight and digitized permit procedures have stopped unauthorized construction. Artificial intelligence deployed in the electronic project review system flags noncompliance, and projects lacking parking, playgrounds, sports grounds and waste container sites are rejected, he said. A presidential decree allocates 520 billion soums for building and repairing playgrounds, walkways and other infrastructure.

A law adopted on Sept 28 sets prison terms of three to five years for repeat construction without a permit after an administrative penalty, and five to seven years if the violation causes a death or other grave consequences. It takes effect three months after official publication.

In August, the Prosecutor General’s Office launched a Telegram bot for Tashkent residents to report illegal construction.