The Hindu 04.02.2014
Single window for planning permits sought
Builders say delays plague process of issuing planning permissions for property
Taking a cue from other metropolitan cities in the
South, the State government should consider creating a ‘single window
counter’ to issue planning permissions for properties in the city,
builders have suggested.
A section of Chennai
builders submitted their grievances to Housing Minister R. Vaithilingam
recently. Their demands include doing away with the practice of getting
No Objection Certificates from multiple government agencies, and
instead, setting up a single location or agency.
Members
of Builders Association of India (BAI) and Confederation of Real Estate
Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) have been vocal about the
delay in receiving the planning permission. The delays along with
red-tapism and the high cost of construction material are affecting
them, they say.
“The single window counter is a
success in Pune. Even Bangalore and Hyderabad have dynamic systems of
approvals,” pointed out Sandeep Mehta of CREDAI’s Chennai Chapter. He
said the practice of getting NOC from the traffic police, for instance,
should be done away with as builders incorporate provisions of
Development Control Rules relating to parking.
Ram
Prabhu of BAI, said that in the rest of the State capitals in South
India, the time taken to issue plan approval was not more than two
months, while Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority took as long as
two years in certain cases.
A CMDA official said a
couple of years ago, the pending applications stood at more than 500 but
at present, the number had come down to 250. Of these, less than 50
projects were special buildings (residential/commercial building with
more than two floors but less than four floors, or a residential
building with more than six dwelling units) and multi-storey buildings
(more than 4 floors).
Officials said they had issued
planning permissions to 549 special buildings in 2012 (528 in 2013) and
88 multi storey buildings in 2012 (75 in 2013). Some of the approvals
were issued in less than two months and CMDA’s transparency was for all
to see, the official added.
The number of plan
approvals given by them amounted to less than 10 per cent of the total
permissions issued by local bodies, including Chennai Corporation, in
the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Any delays, if at all, were due to
erratic applications or non-payment of the stipulated charges, he added.