The Times of India             04.10.2013

PMC gets 450 builders to register in two months

PUNE: As many as 450 builders have registered with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) ever since the mandatory registration was launched two months ago.

In this period, the administration has not rejected a single building plan over the reason that the builder was not registered with the civic body.

The civic administration had started the mandatory registration process on August 1 and had given a month's time to builders to register. A month after expiry of the deadline till October 1, as many as 450 builders had registered, civic officials said. The city has around 1,000 builders.

The administration had said that builders in the city, who fail to register with the civic body, will not get approval for new construction projects.

On whether any building plan was rejected, Vivek Kharwadkar, head of the building permission department, said, "The PMC has included a provision that if a builder comes to submit a building permission plan, he will have to complete the registration process first. So all the builders who came to submit new plans had to register first."

He said that as all the people, who submitted plans were registered, there was no need to reject any building plan.

Kharawadkar said the registration will be a continuous process. and builders will come to submit their building plans will be told to register.

The civic body decided to make the registration mandatory after several buildings and compound walls collapsed in the city in June. The administration said there was no provision wherein the builders can be held responsible for accidents or poor quality work.

According to the civic officials, if the builders are registered with the PMC, then they can be held accountable for any mishap. At present, only the structural auditors and architects are registered with the civic administration.

Civic officials had said the registration system was on the lines of the Union government's Real Estate Bill, according to which each construction project should be registered with the local body. However, the civic administration's registration process will not be confined just to projects. The builder will also have to register, no matter how many projects he undertakes.

As per rules, if the registered builder is found involved in wrong practices, he may be banned from undertaking further construction projects within the municipal limits. In case of any complaint, the builder will be called for a hearing and if the complaints are found to be true, then his registration will be cancelled. The option to suspend the licence during the inquiry period is also available.