Rules make excavation of earth no ordinary task

Thiruvananthapuram: While the department of mining and geology has clamped down on illegal excavation of ordinary earth, especially in sites of apartment projects, impractical rules coupled with administrative delay seem to have resulted in fuelling such violations. Recently, district mining and geology official served stop memos to four apartment projects which hadn’t obtained mandatory clearance for mining.
The rules necessitate applicants to obtain quarrying permit for ordinary earth, environmental clearance and then payment of royalty depending upon quantity of earth being excavated if the construction exceeds 300 sqm (3,228 sq ft) in terms of ground plinth area.
Builders say problem arises from rules to be followed in obtaining this quarrying permit. It requires the applicant to obtain consent from the residents living within 50m radius of the plot, the landowners within 25m radius of the plot, an NoC from PWD, non-assignment certificate and boundary demarcation certificate.
A city-based builder who got the building permit and development permit for an apartment project in 2017 is still awaiting quarrying permit mainly due to non-viability of the rules. “We chose to comply with the rules and it has cost us dearly. Such unworkable and arbitrary conditions being imposed on us have stalled the project. We had to cancel bookings as building permit is valid only for three years and we already lost nearly two years trying to get some earth removed in a legal manner,” said the builder who did not wish to be named.
The condition on getting consent from landowners and neighbouring residents is the most difficult part. “We are put at the mercy of property owners and it is highly unlikely that they would give consent for the project because it hardly concerns them. As for landowners, tracing them would be even harder since many of them would reside somewhere else or even outside the country,” the aggrieved builder pointed out.
Credai Thiruvananthapuram had taken up the matter with the state government last year, however, no response could be evoked. Credai had noted in the letter to the government that even PWD NoC was hard to get because the officials concerned denied any knowledge about issuing an NoC for removal of ordinary earth for construction of flats.
Many builders are often forced to go the other route simply because of the difficulty in complying with the rules, industry sources said. “Normally, a builder needs to get a quarrying permit, environmental clearance and then royalty has to be paid. These processes take such a long time and with regard to real estate projects delivering on time is crucial. So, people are forced to excavate the earth and if notice is slapped, they would pay the royalty, price of the minor mineral which was removed and then the fine which may extend up to Rs 5 lakh,” a source said.
The officials of department of mining and geology said that the difficulty to comply with existing set of rules could be a reason why they get very few applications for quarrying permit of ordinary earth. “A proposal is being drafted considering the existing issues by which if a builder gets a development permit, that would suffice for quarrying permit. But environmental clearance has to be obtained by the builder. The proposal will soon be submitted to the state government,” said an official.