The strike launched by the licensed surveyors, engineers and architects has came as a jolt to the already sluggish real estate sector in the State.
Interestingly, of the 4,500 licensed technical persons (LTPs) who have been on a strike for the last one week, at least 20 per cent have their share in various ongoing and proposed construction projects.
The LTPs are independent professionals who provide building plans to their clients in all the 110 municipalities, 12 municipal corporations and two metropolitan cities of Vijyawada and Visakhapatnam.
Though it’s the responsibility of the civic bodies to cross-check the designs submitted by the LTPs before issuing the building permits, the officials have blacklisted around 140 professionals in the recent past. This has triggered a row and the LTP professionals went on a strike with a charter of demands.
‘Land data not digitised’
“The replacement of manual application system with the online mode is the mother of all problems as the master data pertaining to land details is not available in their entirety with the civic bodies,” alleges Gatti Satyanarayana, senior civil engineer and Director of the Godavari Urban Development Authority.
Though the Andhra Pradesh Development Permission Management System (APDPMS) software was developed two years ago to facilitate the online approvals, the submitted data are proved incomplete since the details of vacant lands are not fully computerised. “Now, the entire blame is being put on the LTPs for the errors that are precisely due to the lapses in the software,” explains Mr. Satyanarayana.
Further, the LTP professionals argue that it’s the responsibility of the civic bodies to undertake physical verification of the sites while approving the building plan online.
“The online system is a win-win mode for the people, LTPs and the officials as well, provided the land data are fully digitised. Instead of rectifying the records, the government is resorting to blame game and harassing us,” says K. Vijaya Krishna, secretary of the East Godavari Licensed Surveyors, Engineers and Architects Welfare Association, a body that is representing around 350 professionals.
Also the joint secretary of the CREDAI’s local chapter, Mr. Krishna, says the construction activity has come to a grinding halt across the State in the absence of a proper channel to apply for the building plan approval.
“Cancellation of our licences or providing instant training to the fresh engineering gradates of are not going to solve this multi-layered issue,” says V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rajamahendravaram chapter of the LTP body.
