(1) Whoever, being the owner or occupier of any building or land, allows the same to be in a filthy and unwholesome state, or to be, in the opinion of the Municipality, a nuisance to persons residing in the neighbourhood, or to be overgrown with prickly-pear or rank and noisome vegetation and does not, within a reasonable time after notice in writing by the Municipality to cleanse, clear or otherwise put the same in a proper state, comply with the requisition contained in such notice, shall be punished with fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to two thousand rupees and with further fine which shall not be less than fifty rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees for every day on which the failure to comply with the said notice is continued after the date of the first conviction.
(2) Should the state of the building be such as in the judgment of the Municipality to render it unfit for human habitation, it may further by written notice prohibit the using thereof for that purpose until it is so rendered fit.
(3) If any building, by reason of dilapidation, neglect, abandonment or disuse or of its remaining untenanted and thereby -
(a) becoming a resort of idle and disorderly persons or of persons who have no ostensible means of subsistence or who cannot give a satisfactory account of themselves; or
(b) coming into use for any unsanitary or immoral purposes; or
(c) affording a shelter to snakes, rats or other dangerous or offensive animals, is open to the objection that it is a nuisance or so unwholesome or unsightly as to be a source of discomfort, inconvenience or annoyance to the neighbourhood or to persons passing by such building, the Municipality, if it considers that such objection cannot, under any other provision- of this Act, be otherwise removed, may, if there is any person known or resident within the Municipality who claims to be the owner of such building by written notice directed to such person or in any other cases, by written notice-fixed on the outer door or any other conspicuous part of the building, require all persons interested therein to take within a period mentioned in the notice such steps with respect to the building as may be specified in the notice.
(4) In the event of non-compliance with the requirements of the notice within the period mentioned therein, the Municipality may cause such order as it may be specified in the notice to be taken with the building in question at-the cost of the owner or persons interested therein and shall, if the building is taken down, cause all the material thereof to be removed and sold forthwith.
(5) In case the materials of a building are sold, the sale proceeds shall be applied in the first instance towards defraying any expenses incurred by the Municipality in taking down the building and in the removal and sale of the materials thereof and all such expenses not thereby defrayed shall be recoverable in same manner as an amount claimed on account of any tax recoverable under this Act:
Provided that if there shall remain any surplus amount after defraying such expenses, the same shall be payable on application made within six months from the date of sale, to the owner or persons interested.