Town planning body to review all occupancy permits issued this year

Department of town and country planning (DTCP) on Thursday will check all occupation certificates issued to individual residential plots between January 1 to March 31. Department officials said the certificates will be checked for digressions from the approved plans or changes made after the receipt of the certificate.

From the last week of December 2018, the department had been issuing all occupancy certificates online within five to seven days of application.

An occupancy certificate is issued to the plot owners if the constructed building is in suitable condition for occupancy, and if the owner has followed the rules stipulated by the department.

“At present, the occupancy certificates (OC) for plots are granted under self-certification scheme wherein the architect certifies that the case is fit for grant of OC. However to review the status in the first phase, officials have been asked to conduct site inspections and check violations if any,” said RS Bhath, district town planner. He said the field officers would record and report violations. In case of misreporting, the field officer would be held responsible, Bhath said.

The town planner said junior engineers (JEs) will have to complete the inspection of areas assigned to them and submit a report on April 7, after which he would study the reports and himself conduct site inspections to corroborate facts. “The government has been very liberal in increasing the FAR and allowed residents to build the fourth floor as well. But, if despite that, violations happen then we will have to take action,” he said.

First Published: Apr 05, 2019 03:45 IST