BHUBANESWAR: In a move that could impact multiple real estate projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the Odisha government has decided to review the permissions granted for approach roads to all real estate projects approved in the Twin City in the last five years, and initiate appropriate action for violation of norms.
The decision has been taken in the wake of a major controversy where a project’s registration in the state capital was revoked after it allegedly cited a railway land as its approach road, jeopardising the investments of several home buyers.
Following the case, Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra asked the department secretary to furnish the details of the permission of approach road granted to real estate projects, by the competent authorities - Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) - under their jurisdictions in the last five years.
The officials have been asked to furnish details of the building plan approval of the real estate projects, name of the planning officer who gave the permission, land schedule of the project, access road to the project with length and breadth specifications, and no objection certificate (NOC) obtained from the competent authority or private individual, if their land is being used as the approach road to the project site.
“It is necessary to ascertain whether any permission for access road on the land of other department or agency has been given to the real estate projects without NOC from the competent authority,” the minister’s office has stated in its letter, a copy of which is available with TNIE.
The letter also underlined that access road on private, SC or ST land needs handing over of the same to the government through registered deed of conveyance, prior to grant of the NOC. The projects need to be reviewed and appropriate action taken against those who have not followed due procedure in obtaining the NOC, it stated.
In April this year, the Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) had revoked the registration certificate of the real estate project ‘HN Courtyard’ in Gadakana stating that the project cannot be allowed to continue as the approach road to it is on railway land.
The Directorate of Estates had also issued notice to both BDA and BMC last year seeking clarification from them for allegedly realising security deposit from two real estate projects, and allowing access to approach road to them on government land without consent from the General Administration department.