CHENNAI: Developers are worried a lot that planning permission for high-rise buildings in the Chennai Metropolitan Area could be delayed further. Housing and Urban Development Department has done away with conditional approvals for environment clearance, structural stability and fire service, which were in place since 2014.
It has been the norm that developers will apply for NoCs from the respective department while the application is submitted. Once the GO is passed and published in the Gazette, NOCs are provided by the respective departments.
Now, the application has to be submitted along with environmental clearance, structural stability certificate and NOC, and housing and commercial projects could get delayed further. “The government has so many checks and balances in place. We urge the housing secretary to continue with the same process as it would benefit the industry,” said a developer.
Housing Secretary S Apoorva, who brought in the change, said, “We decided to do away with conditional approvals as there have been a lot of complaints.” This norm was changed two days ago after developers approached Chief Minister M K Stalin over the delay in clearing proposals.
Apoorva, in a communique, said applications should have a structural stability certificate, environmental clearance certificate and NOC from the fire service department as it concerns the safety of occupants and it is pointless to examine the proposals without that.
Developers allege that proposals have been sent to the housing secretary of which a few without the requisite NOCs got approved while the remaining were returned. Apporva said, “Initially, a few files were considered but when I found that a few of the applications don’t have even a basic plan, the files were returned.”
Recently, Credai expressed concern over pending high-rise building files awaiting approval. Credai said some files that received clearance during the panel meeting held on May 22 have not made progress towards final approval despite multiple representations. “The delay in processing HRB files is causing considerable hardship and these delays translate into substantial financial setbacks, hampering the growth and development of the real estate sector,” Credai said in a letter to the chief minister recently.