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Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority projects on lands it doesn’t own

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The New Indian Express         21.04.2017 

Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority projects on lands it doesn’t own


Koyambedu Market is under the scanner | P Jawahar

CHENNAI: Even in the bizarre world of bureaucracy, this is unusual. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the agency that helps plan and guide the development of the metropolis, does not have the patta for most of its key projects, documents available with Express show.

Worse still, it does not have the patta even for the land where its headquarters are situated.

According to information available with this newspaper, the list of infrastructure projects that the agency undertook over the years, without mandatory pattas, include important ones like Koyambedu Wholesale Market, Manali New Town, Maraimalai Nagar New Town Project and even the newly-constructed Madhavaram Bus and Truck Terminal. All these were private lands that were acquired for the projects.

In all, the authority implemented projects in 837 acres of private land without obtaining the necessary pattas, the documents reveal.

Records show that of the 296 acres acquired for Koyambedu market, 125.29 acres is private land for which the patta is yet to be obtained in CMDA’s favour.

Similarly, the new bus terminus project is being implemented at Madhavaram without obtaining the patta for nearly half of the land acquired for the project.

A total of 80.19 acres has been acquired for the bus and truck terminal project, but the patta for 46 acres is yet to be transferred in favour of CMDA, documents reveal.

CMDA’s trouble is worse at the Maraimalai Nagar New Town project that was conceived over four decades ago. The land that was acquired in 1974 to develop a satellite town outside the city to regulate population growth as suggested by the First Master Plan, has hardly put to use.


Of the 2,371 acres acquired for the project, the patta for 376 acres of private land is yet to be transferred to CMDA’s name. Similarly, the patta for 583 acres of government land, too, is yet to be transferred to the authority. As the project stayed in limbo, the land was encroached upon, and previous landowners managed to get a favourable order to denotify the land from acquisition as it was not put to use.

Even the Manali New Town project is stuck. The patta for 291 acres of private land is yet to be transferred, while the pattas for five land records have gone missing. The State housing board had acquired 291.91 acres of land from private land owners through 18 awardings, which have gone missing.

 

Building sealed for plan approval violation

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The Hindu       11.04.2017 

Building sealed for plan approval violation

Caught in storm:V.V. Tower in Palayamkottai that was sealed on Monday for violation of plan approval.A. SHAIKHMOHIDEENAA_SHAIKMOHIDEEN;A_SHAIKMOHIDEEN  

It is owned by beach minerals mining baron S. Vaikundarajan’s brother

V.V. Towers, a landmark building owned by beach minerals mining baron S. Vaikundarajan’s brother Jegatheesan opposite Government Siddha Medical College here, was sealed on Monday for alleged building plan violations.

Even as a police team was providing protective cover, a team of officials attached to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) sealed the four-storey building, housing a non-vegetarian restaurant, a super market and a few more offices, around 7.30 a.m. after Collector and Chairman of LPA M. Karunakaran inspected the building.

LPA letter

In a letter sent to Mr. Jegatheesan on April 6, the Member Secretary of LPA stated that the commercial complex at Murugankurichi had been built with additional floors in violation of the building plan approval granted by the LPA.

It had been built without adequate parking facility. Moreover, no revised plan approval was obtained from the LPA for the violations.

Since the commercial complex would be sealed on April 10, operation of the offices functioning from this building should be stopped completely by removing the materials stocked in the building under question, the letter said.

“The building was sealed as it has been built in violation of the building plan approval granted by the LPA. Similar notices have been sent to the owners of a few more buildings across the district and appropriate action will be taken on these notices,” Dr. Karunakaran told the waiting reporters after inspecting the sealing of V.V. Towers. When the officials were about to seal the building, a group of advocates tried to resist the attempt. After the officials told them that they were acting on the court’s direction, the lawyers left the spot.

 

Bill extending planning nod validity passed

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The Hindu        25.03.2017  

Bill extending planning nod validity passed

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday passed a Bill in the State Legislative Assembly to amend the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, with a view to extending the validity of planning permission from three years to five years.

The amendment was brought in after the government came to know that “difficulties are experienced by the persons carrying out large-scale development activities like special economic zones, information technology parks, malls and townships in implementing them within the prescribed period of three years.”

Resource crunch

Non-availability of men and material, among other reasons, led to delay in the execution of projects, the government said.


“The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has also requested to extend the validity period of planning permission from three years to five years,” the government said.

Hence, the government passed the amendment to the Act, which, in 1971, fixed the validity period of planning permission at three years.

The amendment to Section 50 comes into force immediately.

The government also passed a Bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2003, to maintain “the fiscal management targets set out by extending the time limit for fiscal deficit consequent to the State government’s debt takeover of Tangedco under UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana)”.

 


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