Published on: Mar 31, 2016 @ 16:13
Delhi is set to become the first urban area in the country to streamline its building permissions so that building plans are sanctioned within a 30-day period.
Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu announced on Wednesday the new Unified Building Bye-laws 2016 for Delhi. In a significant policy shift in Delhi’s building bye-laws he announced an integrated “single-window clearance” for construction plan for both residential and commercial properties within a 30-day period. The new policy would also exempt owners of residential plots up to 105 sq mtrs from seeking sanction of building plan.
Announcing the new policy at a press conference, Venkaiah Naidu said “The laws have been made user-friendly through unification and simplification of a host of amendments made over the last three decades and integration of approvals by different agencies into a single platform.” “The new process would reduce human interface and enable approvals in just 30 days,” he added.
Revised after 33 years, the bye-laws have streamlined building construction norms and procedures in the capital. Naidu said the new single-window mechanism would help ease construction business in the national capital besides promoting investment.
He said that this is in keeping with the central government’s attempts at streamlining permissions for real estate projects. We thought of setting an example with Delhi. Mumbai is also working on doing the same and this will be followed by other cities,” said Naidu. “After these two major cities we would ask other cities to follow suit,” Naidu said.
Delhi is set to become the first urban area in the country to streamline its building permissions so that building plans are sanctioned within a 30-day period.
The new by-laws will be applicable to all three municipal corporations of Delhi, and areas that fall under the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Cantonment Board of Delhi and the Airport Authority of India.
Now, Under the new system, an applicant need to fill in only one application online to a single concerned urban local body to obtain clearances for building plans in the capital instead of approaching various agencies. The authority has to decide on the application within 30 days.
Earlier, applicants had to go through a cumbersome process to get sanction of building plans from various government agencies such as the National Monuments Authority, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Delhi Fire Services and the Airports Authority of India etc.
Now, applicants will not be required to make payments to various agencies for obtaining approvals separately and instead can make one single payment electronically to the urban local body concerned. The number of documents to be submitted for obtaining building permits has also been considerably reduced from 40 to just 14.
The minister said that in case of failure on the part of officials in granting building permits within 30 days, construction can start based on deemed permissions.
According to the new by-laws, the owners of residential plots of up to 105 sq mtrs need not require to obtain sanction of building plans. They just need to submit an undertaking informing the local body about the proposed construction along with the requisite fees and other documents to begin construction. “If the undertakings are found to be false at any time, this will amount to demolition of the building,” Naidu said.
The law also makes it mandatory for all plot owners, including government complexes spread over 3000 sq mtrs or more, to compulsorily build public toilets in addition to the mandatory requirement.
The new bye-laws also has provisions for accessible ladder to water tank for prevention of dengue besides promoting green energy and sustainable construction practices.
Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar said “The environment conditions will be in-built in the building local bye-laws as in the case of Delhi and no separate environmental clearance will be required. A draft notification to this effect will soon be introduced by the ministry.”
The new bye-laws announced by the union urban minister will make construction user-friendly. The new system will be helpful in getting faster approval of proposals as the processes have been unified and simplified.
Ajay Verma, founder, and writer of The Housing World, a real estate and mortgage news website. He has over fifteen years of rich experience in the above-mentioned industries.
