The Chennai Corporation has begun using development
rights certificate (DRC) to facilitate implementation of its
road-widening projects.

The Corporation council has
considered issuing DRCs to property owners likely to be affected by
widening of roads such as the VOC Road in George Town, Paper Mills Road,
Kaliamman Koil Street and Red Hills High Road.

DRCs
entitle owners to claim additional built-up area (floor space index) in
lieu of the piece of land handed over for infrastructure projects.

Based
on the recommendation of the Chennai Corporation, the Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will issue DRCs to affected
residents.

CMDA officials will inspect the land and
verify documents pertaining to ownership before issuing DRCs. This will
take around three months.

A few months ago, the
Council had passed a resolution to acquire 37,600 sq. m. of private land
on either side of Kaliamman Koil Street, 5,200 sq. m. of private land
on Nelson Manickam Road, and 17,700 sq. m. private land on Paper Mills
Road and Sembium Red Hills Road.

However, CMDA is yet to receive any recommendation from the Chennai Corporation for issuing DRCs to residents in these areas.

After
the process of issuing DRCs gains momentum, the city is likely to get
wider roads that will help residents cope with traffic congestion on
many stretches. Most of the bus routes, that remain narrow, are
maintained by the Chennai Corporation.

The DRCs to be
recommended by the Council on Friday include a 93.64 sq. m. property on
Kaliamman Koil Street, 42.1 sq. m. land on Paper Mills Road, 18.19 sq.
m. in Kolathur and 10.7 sq. m. on VOC Road in George Town.

After the successful issuing of DRCs, there is likely to be a flurry of activity pertaining to road widening.

Last
year, CMDA had rejected the Council’s proposal for devolution of powers
to issue DRCs. Now, the certificates are issued only by CMDA. The
Chennai Corporation can only process applications for planning
permission, including those pertaining to transfer of development
rights.