Housing and Urban Development Board on Thursday released two government orders, delegating more powers to the District Officers in the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for granting planning permissions for buildings.
The government orders follow the announcements made for the same by Housing and Urban Development Minister S. Muthusamy in the Assembly on Wednesday.
According to the orders issued by Principal Secretary of the department Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana, District Officers in the DTCP will be able to grant planning permission for non-high-rise buildings for residential, commercial and industrial use with built-up area up to 40,000 square feet. Until now, such buildings required the approvals of the Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors and Joint Directors depending on the built-up area.
Similarly, high-rise buildings of height exceeding 18.3 metres under the CMDA limits required another level of approval from the government after scrutiny and approval by the multi-storey building (MSB) panel of the agency. However, planning permission for such buildings issued by the DTCP outside the Chennai Metropolitan Area did not require such an approval from the government. This disparity will be done away with going forward.
As per the order, planning permission for buildings of height between 18.3 and 30 metres in Chennai Metropolitan Area can be approved by the Member Secretary (MS) of the CMDA after scrutiny and recommendation by the MSB panel.
For buildings taller than 30 metres, a committee headed by Vice-Chairman of the CMDA will be constituted with MS, executive authority of local bodies concerned, and representatives from departments that need to provide no objection certificates, Chief Planner of the CMDA, and another expert chosen by Vice-Chairman as members.
Building plans scrutinised by the MSB panel will be put up before this committee and its recommendations will then be forwarded to the MS for approval and issue of planning permission.
Energy-efficiency
The department also released another government order recently, mandating elements of energy-efficiency and climate resilience features in the construction of buildings by Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) and Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB). The requirements will be applicable to buildings having a connected load of 100 kilowatt and above or with a built-up area of 2,000 square metre or more.
The requirements include prescribed levels of maximum wall thermal transmittance, maximum glass Solar Heat Gain Efficient, and minimum glass visible light transmittance.
