CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government expects to roll out its AI-enabled planning approval system, Single Platform for Efficient Expedited Development (SPEED), in six to seven months, eliminating human interface in issuing planning permissions, Housing and Urban Development Department Secretary R Kirlosh Kumar said on Sunday.
Speaking at CREDAI’s (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India) state conference (STATECON) in Chennai, he said the tender process for developing the system would begin this month and a consultant would be appointed to develop the software.
For applicants, SPEED will help in setting up a common date for site inspections by different departments, instead of officials visiting the same site on different dates. The platform is proposed to integrate the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), and urban and rural local bodies, and for which the government has earmarked Rs 40 crore.
The department is also planning to introduce an online portal for land-use reclassification this month. Once the period for filing objections and suggestions ends, applications will automatically be taken up for processing, Kirlosh Kumar said. He added that the department is consulting the Fire and Rescue Services Department on increasing the permissible height of buildings.
CMDA Member Secretary A R Rahul Nadh said the existing master plan was prepared for a 20-year period, with a provision for review every five years, but periodic reviews had not been carried out. The Third Master Plan is expected to address the issues identified under the existing plan. Sixteen sectoral studies have been completed for the existing Chennai Metropolitan Area, and an international consultant will be appointed to review them and prepare a comprehensive master plan for the expanded metropolitan area covering 5,904 sq km.
Speaking on the proposed urban development authorities (UDAs) in Coimbatore, Madurai and other cities, Kirlosh Kumar said the government was working on amendments to existing rules before taking a decision on the authorities’ powers.
Earlier, CREDAI Tamil Nadu president W S Habib urged the government to identify an alternative site for Chennai’s second airport quickly. He also called for fixing accountability for delays in completing infrastructure projects, including the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated corridor and the Anna Salai flyover.
