Local bodies to have more say in plan approvals

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced that local bodies would have greater say in granting planning permission and building approvals in their respective jurisdictions.

Making a slew of announcements in the House, Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S.P. Velumani said, presently, local bodies were empowered to grant planning permission to residential buildings with a constructed area of up to 4,000 sq.ft only. This restriction would be eased. Likewise, civic bodies would be vested with the authority to grant planning permission to commercial buildings beyond the prevailing stipulation of up to 2,000 sq.ft.

Time-frame

The local bodies will be mandated to grant the planning permission within a specified timeframe, failing which the permission shall be deemed to have been granted. The government has also proposed to make it mandatory to apply for plan permissions only through the online mode.

If local bodies do not decide on the building layout applications made online within 30 days, the land owners can consider that the applications have been approved and can commence construction work.