The Chennai Corporation has not cleared 1,347 applications for building approval in the past six months, citing challenges in the implementation of the regularisation scheme for unauthorised layouts and plots as the reason. As many as 8,500 applications are pending with other local bodies in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
“The regularisation scheme for layouts and plots commenced on May 4 to help the poor and middle class develop the properties. However, the Corporation is yet to give any approval for the construction of buildings on the plots for the past six months,” said A. Balasubramani, president of the Greater Chennai Corporation Licensed Surveyor Association.
According to licensed surveyors, the Corporation has started sending the applications to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) before giving clearance. Previously, the application was cleared by the Corporation and local bodies. Now, the process of getting clearance from the CMDA is very challenging, said P.S.J. Palani Rajan, Honorary Secretary of the Greater Chennai Corporation Licensed Surveyor’s Association.
“The planners want the applicants to redraw the entire layout and obtain encumbrance certificate for the entire layout. This is a challenge. Most of the other residents who had obtained building approval on the same layouts had constructed houses before May 4, 2017. After the announcement of the regularisation scheme, they are unable to get clearance,” said Mr.Rajan.
‘Not sensible decision’
Licensed surveyors said the demand for encumbrance certificate for all the other plots in the layouts was not a sensible decision by planning authorities concerned, pointing to the development of infrastructure such as streetlights, roads, stormwater drains, sewer network and footpaths in most of the layouts. For example, the Corporation and the CMDA had recently asked an applicant from a layout near Velammal School in Ambattur Zone to produce encumbrance certificate for all the other 550 plots in the layout.
“All the other residents in such layouts had constructed houses because the layout was formed before December 31, 1989. The Corporation has even named the street. It has also developed civic infrastructure. But it refuses to give building approval now,” said Mr.Rajan.
The loss of revenue to CMDA and the Corporation because of the delay in getting clearance for building approval and planning permission is put at ₹500 crore.
Corporation officials said there was lack of clarity in the government order on regularisation of layouts and plots.
The CMDA officials said a study was under way to identify the challenges the applicants were facing.
