Surat Municipal Corporation flooded with requests for impact fee regulation

SURAT: Officials of town planning department at Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) faced a deluge of applications for regularization of illegal construction by paying impact fee during this month. They got a relief only when the government extended the timeline for another six months.Against the trickle of last few months, August saw a flood of applications with the number standing at 10,547.

Officials said that the number may touch 20,000 by February, 2013. What is noteworthy is that the owners of small properties have come forward in large numbers to take advantage of impact fee regulation."We are happy that at last the people for whom this scheme is meant are coming out to get their properties regularized. We have instances of 40 house owners of a society coming up with applications for regularization of their properties," said Jivan Patel, director of planning at SMC.

There are only 11 lakh houses registered with SMC in a city that has a population of 46 lakh people. The number of high rise buildings is pegged at close to 1,700 and the commercial buildings are estimated to be around 1,500. Not many from this segment have come forward till now to apply for regularization of their properties by paying an impact fee."We can assure you that after 2002-03 there have been very little illegal construction in the city. The majority of buildings have come up according to the plan.

In fact, the buyers have become more aware and refrain from purchasing properties that are not built as per approved plans," said Vijay Desai, an official from the town planning department. Officials said that a large number of buildings came up in Varachha and Katargam zones of the city in the recent past without following the norms of construction.A major chunk of the applications received for regularization is from these areas.The SMC had earned an additional Rs 100 crore when a one time impact fee proposal was brought out by the state government in 2000. The civic body expects to earn much more this time.