Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is making it easier for owners of newly built houses to obtain a completion certification, setting up a single-window system so one can directly apply to the civic building department for the document instead of hopping from one section to another.
The building department will liaison with other departments of the civic body as well as departments of the state government whose approval is required for issuing the completion certificate.
At present, house owners or architects hired by them visit the relevant departments and obtain no-objection certificates (NOC) before applying to the civic building department for the completion certificate (CC).
So far, the completion certificate has been issued for only two buildings through the single-window system. Officials of the civic body said they are still considering the possible challenges and hitches of converting to the new system, which will be a fully online one where the various government departments will upload their NOCs.
The KMC’s building department issues the CC based on the approval of other departments in the civic body and the state government.
Among the departments whose approval is needed are the water supply and drainage departments of the KMC, which give their NOCs after verifying whether the existing network of water supply and drainage will be able to serve the new building.
The two departments also charge a fee during the verification and allow the house owner to connect the building’s water and drainage lines with the KMC’s networks.
All non-residential buildings and residential buildings with six or more floors need an NOC from the fire department.
The NOC from the chief electrical inspector is required for any building that has an elevator.
Large projects, ones with an area of more than 20,000sqm, needs an NOC from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, said an architect.
“At present, we have to visit all these departments to obtain their NOCs. All the NOCs are clubbed and attached to the application to the civic building department for the CC,” the architect said.
A KMC official said that in the new system, the owner will fill out an application form and send it to the building department. It will then be the building department's responsibility to seek the necessary NOCs.
“We will try to issue the CC within a month of getting the application. Initially, there could be some hitches, but within a few months all of us will get used to the system. Once the system is fully implemented, house owners will be spared a lot of harassment,” the official said.
The transition is part of the project of ease of doing business (EoDB), which the KMC started about a couple of years back to simplify its procedures and make them more citizen-friendly.
“We are trying to reduce the interaction of common people with KMC employees. People need not come to our offices unless absolutely necessary. They should be able to receive our services by applying online,” said a senior KMC official.