Those planning to buy land along EM Bypass or areas off Behala, Tollygunge and Jadavpur and build homes can now breathe easy.
Owners of 3 cottahs and properties built on an equal size of land in these areas will now be able to get mutation of their properties done by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation assessment department without applying for the same before the Block Land Revenue Officer (BLRO).
Property owners of more than 3 cottah of land will, however, need to go through the BLRO.
The civic brass has decided to issue mutation certificates for property owners of added areas to end the harassment that they faced while getting their properties mutated by the BLRO office first and then apply for the same before the KMC assessment department.
A proposal was passed at the mayor-in-council meeting on Wednesday enabling the property owners of added areas to get mutation of their properties done by the KMC assessment department only. Once the mutation is done, the same will enable a land owner to apply for sanction of building plans before the buildings department.
Owners of existing properties will also be issued a mutation certificate from the assessment department and, based on the document, they can apply for reconstruction, expansion or renovation of their properties.
Under the new system, a property owner will not only get relief from extreme delay in getting mutation done, but also escape double taxation by paying mutation fees only to the assessment department.
According to a civic official, the KMC authorities had to tweak the rules, bringing middleclass land owners under a single-window mutation system.
“We had been receiving scores of complaints from property owners from added areas, especially from EM Bypass, Joka, Tollygunge and Jadavpur, accusing that a section of officials unnecessarily delayed the issuing of mutation certificates. This, in turn, delayed the building of a home and the reconstruction or expansion of existing houses had become an uphill task,” the official said.
Under new system, the KMC assessment department will go through the documents to be submitted by an applicant and if there are no disputes in the deed, the mutation of a property will be done in a week. We will only go and physically verify a spot if we find any dispute in the character of the land,” another official said.
The KMC will also reap benefits from the tweak in rule. The official said that the civic body will invite all property owners to get their properties mutated and apply for building sanction plans.
