Building regularisation scheme to be extended

CHENNAI: Three years since its roll out, the building regularisation scheme still seems a distant dream, thanks to Covid-19 and the lockdown that followed. Even as the scheme’s latest deadline expired on Sunday, the government is planning to extend it by a year.

As per the scheme, brought in by making an amendment in the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, the owners of buildings that violated rules and plan, would be allowed to rectify them to avoid “lock-and-seal” action. All such buildings constructed before July 1, 2007 are covered under the scheme. However, the residents ought to pay regularisation charges based on the size, guideline value and location of the building. Owing to high charges, several owners opted to stay away from the scheme, following which the government brought in a few relaxations.

There are nearly five lakh such buildings in the State, of which over 1.5 lakh are in Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), said an official from the Housing department.According to sources, the process had been facing legal hurdles since its implementation. Applications were kept in abeyance as the Madras High Court ordered in September 2017 that such regularisation of violations could not be permitted. Subsequently, in the recent High Court order dated October 30, 2018, it clarified that there was no bar for considering the applications filed under Section 113-A, in case, there was any evidence to show that the building was put up before the cut-off date of February 28, 1999. Another case is still pending at the Madurai bench of the High Court.

Manpower shortage

It is learnt that the legal cell of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has been facing a shortage of manpower, with almost 95 per cent retired. Currently, the legal unit is functioning with retired staff, senior law officer on contract and non-muster roll employees. Additionally, the Vice-Chairman post at CMDA remains vacant.

Meanwhile, files under the first regularisation scheme (whose cut off date was 1999) have not been cleared yet. Even as 20 chief planners were appointed to implement the scheme, the process is yet to be completed as the focus is more on area plans and enforcement, and not on town planning per se, said sources.