THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to clear the bad name that the Town Planning Department has gained over the years, the City Corporation has decided to introduce minor, yet-significant, changes in the department. To begin with, the online facility for building permits, which is yet to get full support from the designer and architect community, would be extended to all 100 wards. Right now, the facility is being offered to 35 wards only. The Corporation has also decided to recommend action against those designers whose plans are continuously rejected three times. There are also big plans to crack down on the agents and to show them their place, thereby erasing the menace they have been causing to the Corporation. The online building permit system was introduced during the last term of the Jayan Babu council. There was criticism against the software, which was prepared by a Mumbai-based group, alleging that it did not comply with the rules of the local body. For example, if a plan was designed on a green strip or on a place set aside for a government project, it was not specified but merely cited as rejected. However, Corporation officials had said that those were only the technical sides to it which could be solved; the real problem was a section of officials who were simply not ready to turn e-savvy. Though the amount of hesitation has now come down, the online facility needs to be more streamlined, for which the efforts are currently on. According to Corporation officials, it would only be a matter of time before it would be fully owned by the public. The problem arises when the applicant is not computer-savvy and has to wholly believe and depend on the designer to do his work. The agents also play a part in not letting the whole system go online, which can heavily destroy their prospects. "Once it is spread to all wards, more people will start using it. The pros and cons would be eventually solved and the employees would own it. There is no point in staying away from online facilities; for, they have become the need of the times,’’ said G Happykumar, Deputy Mayor. He said that the five-member committee which is looking into the issues related to the issuing of building permits in the city had realised that the major hindrance to the online system was the reluctance on the part of the public and some officials to use it. However, the Corporation is determined to carry forward the online system and has already started training officials in view of extending it to more wards.
Comments
0 comment