Corp engg wing flags concerns over self-certification permits

Thiruvananthapuram: The engineering wing of the city corporation has called for incorporating zoning regulations and development related control provisions as per the master plan within the online building permit system.
As the state government recently allowed self-certification for low risk buildings from April 2023, nearly 670 applications were processed in the system within two months. The engineering wing has flagged concerns over lack of a regulatory mechanism to ensure compliance of self-certified permits with newly introduced zoning regulations in the master plan which was published on June 2.
The government made self-certification mandatory for applications for building permits for low-risk buildings in municipal and corporation areas with effect from April 1, 2023.
As per the directions issued by the government, any person who intends to construct or reconstruct a low-risk building or make alteration or addition or extension or change in occupancy of a low-risk building to another low-risk building shall submit an online self-certified application in the prescribed form along with documents as per the building rules.
As per the order, all plans submitted along with the online application have to be certified by the licensee. The order also states that clearances and NOCs from any authority concerned, required under the rules or any other relevant act or rules, town planning schemes etc shall be submitted along with the online application.
The officials said that recently a self-certified permit had to be revoked after it was found that permit was issued in a survey number earmarked for a road widening scheme. The permit was revoked following a random check. With the engineering wing and people in the construction sector yet to be familiarized with new zoning regulations and conditions regarding access and floor space index prescribed in the master plan, the officials said that self-certified permits would get issued in places where construction may be restricted.
LSGD officials said that self-certification was introduced mainly to do away with middle men and eliminate chances of corruption. However, officials with the engineering wing point out that the accountability of letting construction on a restricted area will still fall upon the engineering staff. The recent raids by the internal vigilance cell have made the engineering wing further wary.
As per the building rule, it is up to the licensee to intimate the authority, if the construction is done in violation of the permit.
The officials pointed out that even if a permit is revoked, the system does not show any information regarding the present status of the permit.
This creates a situation where the applicant would begin construction with a permit issued online while the permit may have been revoked due to zoning violations. The present system doesn't allow officials to issue online alerts to the users regarding violations of zoning and development regulations, the officials said.