Decentralisation of the building layout approval system and an increase in floor area ratio and coverage ratio are being considered as part of the government’s efforts to create a investor-friendly milieu in the State.
Official sources told The Hindu here that the government was actively considering a proposal to delegate layout approvals for such ventures to the district offices of the Town and Country Planning Department and increase the floor area ratio and coverage ratio for such buildings in view of the scarcity of land resources in the State.
The Chief Town Planner under the proposed dispensation would be the appellate authority with an advisory role in policy issues. Significant amendments have been mooted to the Panchayati Raj and Municipality Acts and also the building rules to ease the procedural wrangles that inordinately delay the approvals for major projects.
An end-to-end computerised building layout approval system would be the pivot of the reforms being taken up for expediting the licensing system.
In the wake of complaints that urban and rural local governments are indiscreetly issuing stop memos on complaints of public nuisance to industrial units, the government is planning to lay down a procedure for issuing such memos.
It has been proposed to constitute expert committees for hearing such complaints and the local bodies would be able to act only on their recommendations. Local bodies would thus be stripped of their overwhelming authority to take action against industrial units in their ambit, sources said.
It has been proposed to considerably ease the procedures in local bodies for setting up a new venture. To start with, the government may consider an option to combine buildng completion certificate and trade licence. The provision mandating reference from the local body concerned for fire and rescue clearance may be done away with, sources said.
Joint site inspections of Local Self-Government Department, Factories and Boilers, Pollution Control Board, and Fire and Rescure Services Department have been sugested before issuing final clearances. On completing the inspections, reports would be submitted online within 48 hours and that would help to overcome the time delay.
The proposals are now being scrutinised by the Law Department and would be placed in public domain before granting final clearance, sources said.
