KMC will accept only online applications for building sanction plans from April 1. The system was rolled out in KMC borough VI and VII, covering central and south-east Kolkata, from February 1 and will be extended to entire Kolkata by March 31.
The online shift was supposed to start on April 1, 2020, but the date had to be pushed back due to the pandemic.
Aimed at offering a single-window, quick solution, the system under Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) scheme has so far received seven applications from south-east Kolkata. A KMC buildings department official said if an applicant submitted valid documents related to the land, the KMC would fetch NOCs from various state government departments within 10 days under the single-window system and issue a sanction by one month.
Another buildings department official said the online sanction scheme would be opened in phases, borough-wise. The entire city will be brought under the online sanction scheme by March 31, following which no physical application will be entertained.
“We will gradually roll out the scheme to the entire city, borough-wise. In the first phase, we have opened a single-window clearance for documents for people in central and south-east Kolkata. In the next phase, large areas of north Kolkata will be covered. The third and final phase will cover the entire south Kolkata and added areas, like Behala, Tollygunge Jadavpur and Tollygunge,” he said.
Earlier, a developer constructing a project of over 15.5 m (51ft) height and built-up area exceeding 550 sqm, (5,400 sqft) had to obtain separate clearances from various departments, like fire services, environment and land (urban land ceiling), before applying to the KMC buildings department.
This apart, the KMC’s own departments, like that of surveyor or water supply, had a role. Now all that an applicant needs to do is apply online with scanned copies of documents on the nature of the land and its ownership.
“If no discrepancy is found, we will sanction the plan by a month,” a KMC buildings department official said, adding the civic body had trained licensed building surveyors (LBS) on the submission of documents under the new online scheme.