The Tamil Nadu government is studying the possibilities to have Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA) rules for specific survey numbers rather than entire villages in areas where it is applicable.
B. Ganesan, Director of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), who inaugurated a three-day property fair (Faipro) organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) in Coimbatore on Friday, said that HACA rules are applicable in about 500 villages in 20 districts in the State.
In the 1990s, the rules were applicable for entire taluks in these districts and later it was made for specific villages. The government appointed a consultant recently to study the HACA areas in Coimbatore and Kanniyakumari districts on a pilot basis for a few criteria. The recommendations of the consultant will be presented to the HACA committee and based on its feedback and decision, there are plans to apply the rules only for specific survey numbers rather than covering entire villages.
Regarding the Master Plans for Coimbatore and seven other cities in the State, he said the the suggestions received from the public are scrutinised by the officials now. After finalising the suggestions to be accepted, the draft plan will be submitted to the respective local planning authorities and then to the government for approval. The proposal is to develop master plans for 135 cities in the State under the Amrut scheme.
Under the self-certification scheme launched recently, Mr. Ganesan said 500 permissions were taken in five days since its launch. There are also plans to permit deemed approvals for no objection certificates to be issued by some departments. If the certificates are not issued within a specific time, it will be deemed as given.
Pravesh Kumar Subudhi, General Manager of Network 3, LHO , State Bank of India, said houses are an appreciating asset and the bank’s housing loan portfolio in Coimbatore is more than ₹7,000 crores.
R. Ilankovan, president of CREDAI Tamil Nadu, appealed to Mr. Ganesan to extend the self-certification scheme for larger areas.
According to Gugan Ilango, president of CREDAI Coimbatore, through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, the Association is looking at improving Coimbatore’s cityscape.
