Nearly three years after the state government launched an amnesty scheme, about 33 lakh unauthorised housing plots across Tamil Nadu have been regularised by the directorate of town and country planning (DTCP). The DTCP has jurisdiction over the entire state except for Chennai and its suburbs that fall in Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
Official sources said a chunk of these applications were from Coimbatore and Vellore. “Owners of 38 lakh independent plots had sought regularisation. And, 33 lakh have been regularised. The rest are pending for want of documents with the applicants,” a senior DTCP official told TOI.
Construction sector players said with the regularisation would reflect in more authorised housing plots coming up for sale. Builders Association of India’s southern centre chairman S Ramaprabhu said a majority of these plots were part of unauthorised layouts, parts of which had already been sold. “Planning permissions to construct houses would be issued only for approved and regularised plots,” he said.
The state government had announced an amnesty scheme after the Madras high court imposed a blanket ban on registering plots lacking statutory approvals in September 2016 following rampant conversion of agricultural land as residential plots all over Tamil Nadu. Owners of unapproved plots and unauthorised layout promoters were warned that houses coming up there would lose power connection, water supply, and drainage facilities.
Meanwhile, the DTCP is also witnessing a jump in the number of layout applications in the last three years, thanks to curbs on unapproved plots. For instance, Kancheepuram, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur districts have recorded an increase in registration of 50 authorised layouts every year between 2017 and 2019 when compared to 2016, when 100 layouts were approved.
