In the offices of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), one will find officials dedicated to scrutinising building plans submitted by the residents, some of whom may have to endure an agonising wait for approval.
However, less than 25 km away, in Nanjangud taluk, the local administration has set the wheels for digitising the entire process in motion, which will leave officials otherwise occupied with pouring over building plans, free to handle more demanding jobs.
The City Municipal Council (CMC) in Nanjangud is all set to roll out the online system for issuance of building licence.
As of now, there are as many as 12,000 properties within the purview of the Nanjangud CMC. In the recent years, concerted efforts by stakeholders in the tourism industry to promote Sri Srikanteshwara temple, and the rapid industrialisation has significantly altered this once sleepy town.
With buildings mushrooming across the town, the CMC has, for some time now, been stretched thin, with a disproportionate amount of time and human resource being invested in examination and clearance of building plans that come through its doors seeking approval.
The online system will be tested in Nanjangud CMC as a pilot project, which was launched on October 1.
Under this system, residents seeking to get new houses, or companies looking to set up their plants, will have to enlist an engineer or architect registered with the CMC, who will, in turn upload the plans online. The official concerned at the CMC will examine the soft copy uploaded on the database, which will subsequently be sent to the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda).
Officials at Muda will scrutinise the plan, and issue a no-objection certificate (NOC). However, the new process does not eliminate the need for an inspection of the construction site, which will be carried out by CMC engineers.
At the moment, there are five private architects registered officials with the Nanjangud CMC. Nanjangud CMC assistant executive engineer R Bhaskar said that the new system held a lot of promise for local administration.
“Firstly, it will render the entire process transparent, and secondly, it will save a considerable amount of time, wasted when building licence has to be issued manually. This trial period will probably last six months. We are hoping that the pilot project is a success, so that it can be implemented in a full-fledged manner,” Bhaskar told TOI.
The CMC official added that, under the online system, residents seeking approval for building plans can also pay the fee online.