Vijayawada: State govt has decided to simplify the process of issuing building and layout permits. In a review meeting with officials of municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) on Monday, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu approved the report of the committee constituted to suggest reforms to be brought in the town planning department.Seven teams had studied the policies in 10 states to prepare the report.
According to the eased guidelines, no permission is required from municipal authorities for buildings less than 15 meters in height. Plans approved by licensed surveyors can be uploaded to the online platform to obtain deemed permits. However, a task force will be constituted for periodic inspections. MAUD minister P Narayana said licensed surveyors will be held responsible if any shortcomings are identified in the plan. “Besides cancelling the license of the surveyors, penal action will be taken by registering criminal cases against them,” he warned.
After obtaining the deemed approval by uploading the plan, photographs of the building at the basement level should be uploaded to the website. If any deviations are found in the plan, fines will be imposed, Narayana said. “With this process, 95% of people need not visit municipal offices for plan approvals,” he added.
Govt further eased norms by introducing a single-window system for issuing permits from other departments like fire, registrations, revenue, mining, airports authority, and other departments. “The servers of other departments will be integrated with MAUD for payment of fees, which will go into the respective head of the account of various departments. The portal will be operational from Dec 31. In case of land acquisition, if the site has sufficient land for buildings, owners can go ahead with their constructions on the site without requiring any TDR bonds,” Narayana added.
For commercial sites, cellar parking will be allowed in buildings up to 500 sqft. Residential buildings can also have cellar parking in 500 sqft sites. The setbacks required to be left for high-rise buildings of more than 120 meters in height are now fixed at 20 meters.
