The Calcutta Municipal Corporation will extend the validity of the existing approved building plans by a year, Firhad Hakim, the chairman of the corporation’s board of administrators, said on Saturday.

Hakim was speaking to members of the Merchants Chamber of Commerce where he made the announcement. He said he had spoken to the chief minister to transfer the thika tenancy department of the government to the civic body. The civic body will start issuing approved building plans within 15 days from July 1, he said.

Approved building plans issued by the CMC are now valid for a five years, on expiry of which the plans have to be renewed by paying a fee.

Work on several real estate projects as well as individuals homes had to be put on hold because of the lockdown. Masons who went back to their hometowns are still to return to the city as suburban trains haven’t resumed services.

It is in this backdrop that Hakim announced extending the validity of the existing plans by a year. “We will extend the building plans’ term by a year. I will ask all other municipalities to do the same thing,” Hakim, who is the municipal affairs minister as well, said.

Hakim said the CMC would start issuing approved building plans within 15 days from July 1. The 15-day deadline was supposed to come into force from April but could not be implemented because of the lockdown. “We will begin doing it from July 1,” he said on Saturday.

The CMC had decided to make it mandatory to apply for a building permit online from April 1 and convey its decision about the proposed building within 15 days. The proposal will be cleared or rejected (with reason) within 15 days.

Thika tenancy

“I have spoken to the chief minister on the issue of thika tenancy. I know that the land department is taking a lot of time in dealing with cases of thika tenancy. So, I have requested the CM to transfer the thika tenancy matter to the CMC,” Hakim said. “I think some policy decisions will be made in a few months. If needed, the act has to be amended.”

The Bengal government has removed the restriction on the maximum height of buildings on thika tenancy and made thika tenants eligible for long-term lease of the land.

The change has been brought about through an amendment to the West Bengal thika tenancy (acquisition and regulation) act in an apparent effort to make the city slum-free.

The act will now make thika tenants eligible to secure bank loans to develop five-storey (G+4) buildings on thika plots.

Land ceiling

Hakim acknowledged that the urban land ceiling act had lost its relevance and there was no need for it in today’s world.

“I also agree that there is no relevance today. There is no need for it. But we have got it traditionally from the CPM government. The mindset is that rich people are grabbing land; so, we need the act to protect the poor,” he said.

An individual can hold up to 7.5 cottahs of land under the act in the urban areas of Bengal. Builders have long been asking it to be repealed.

Vivek Gupta, president of the chamber, said that builders acted as intermediaries. They buy the land, build on it and then transfer it to the actual end users, who would typically hold much less than 7.5 cottahs.

The chamber should give concrete suggestion for the government, the minister said. “We will discuss it in the ministry and can talk to the land secretary; after that it can go to the cabinet as a proposal,” Hakim said.

“It only adds to the cost and complicates matters. If repealed, realty will get a boost,” Sushil Mohta, chairman of Credai Bengal, said.