The Times of India 31.08.2012
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.
