A bill that proposes to cut down the time for the approval of building plans from 60 days to 15 days by the municipalities across West Bengal was passed by the Assembly on Tuesday.
The bill also empowers the executive officer of the municipality, a government official, to approve mutation applications.
Earlier, the mutation application required the nod of the member of the chairperson-in-council in charge of the assessment department, said a senior official of the state municipal affairs department.
The changes will help people living in places like Dum Dum, Baranagar, Belghoria, South Dum Dum, Sonarpur and Baruipur, all of which are still under municipalities. The bill’s statement of objects and reasons mentioned that “it has become necessary to reduce the time for administrative approval to the cases for amendment, alteration and addition to the assessment list of holdings”.
It added that it was necessary to amend the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, to reduce the “stipulated time period for sanction of building plan from existing sixty days to fifteen days”.
“If all documents are in place, a building plan should not take more than 15 days to approve,” said the official.
“Giving powers to complete the mutation of a property to executive officers will also speed up the process,” he added.
An architect, who has worked on some projects in areas governed by municipalities, said reducing the time for approval of building plans would work in practice only if the online system was made more efficient and user-friendly.
“All building plans in all municipalities have to be submitted online now, but the online method is not user-friendly. The 15-day period can be achieved only if the online method is made more efficient,” he said.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, too, has a target of approving building plans within 15 days from the day of application. The bill will now be sent to the governor for his assent.
Once the governor gives his nod, the state law department will publish the amendments in a gazette.
The municipal affairs department will then publish a date from when the changes will come into effect.