The BMC's building proposals manual has gone online, the number of no-objection certificates required for construction has been halved to 58 from 119, and builders can now expect to get all construction-related permissions at one go, within 60 days of submitting their proposals against a year and a half earlier.
These are some of the major revisions
mentioned in the BMC's new building proposals manual, which was released
by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on January 2. This revision
exercise is primarily aimed at reducing corruption in the civic
department, besides easing the process of getting clearances for
construction projects.
The initiative will also reduce citizen’s
struggle to get details of their buildings through the Right to
Information Act (RTI) as well as doing the rounds of BMC offices. Now,
documents of most buildings, some of which are half a century old, can
be found online.
The revised manual, prepared by BMC's building
proposals department, has been the pet project of civic chief Ajoy Mehta
whose team worked on it for the past three months. Mehta had taken a
keen interest in making the entire building proposals process
transparent.
One can visit http://www.mcgm.gov.in/ and click on
the link 'Chief Engineer DP'. This will take one to another page, ask
for a log-in; now, and search for details of relevant buildings. The
site also contains details of the revised manual, regulations as well as
building proposal department circulars. It will have an option to
submit a proposal online, too, but it can be accessed only by registered
architects and consultants.
The building proposals department, which grants
construction permissions, is considered among the most corrupt in the
BMC. There were instances of officials deliberately delaying clearance
of files to get money from builders; architects were summoned to the
department office late at night to process their files.
While town planners have welcomed the revised manual, they remain sceptical about its implementation.
"There is no accountability of the official if
he or she fails to clear the file within the days specified. They should
face action. The municipal commissioner has reduced the number of NOCs,
which is a welcome step as it will reduce corruption," said Shirish
Sukhatme of PEATA (Practicing Engineers, Architects and Town Planners'
Association).
Meanwhile, Mehta has initiated a program to
appreciate his officials every month. On January 2, he felicitated chief
engineer (BP) Vinod Chithore, who headed the team that prepared the
manual, as 'officer of the month'.
Contact
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Thane (W) - 400 604, Maharashtra, India
Mobile : (+91) 9833 4583 23 E-mail: mchithane@gmail.com
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