UT Administration sets Jan deadline

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 10

The UT Administration has fixed January 2020 as the deadline for starting the online building plan approval system. Sources said the deadline was fixed at a meeting with representatives of PricewaterhouseCoopers and senior officers of the departments concerned held recently.

The work to develop the system has been allotted to PricewaterhouseCoopers at a cost of Rs 11 crore. Besides the Estate Office, the company will also develop the online plan approval system for the Chandigarh Housing Board and the Municipal Corporation. The departments concerned have been asked to provide the requisite information to the company. An officer of the Estate Office said once the service was launched, the approval of the plan would be just a click away. Under the system, the applicants will submit the plan through the website. After paying the fee online, the plan will be scrutinised by the staff. The plan will be sent to members of the plan committee, who will approve it online. The members can also sent their objections, if any, to the applicants. Though the Estate Office launched the online system earlier, it failed to start it successfully. Later, the UTasked Chandigarh Smart City Ltd to carry out the project. The new system will make the process of submitting building designs less cumbersome and will also check corruption and ensure transparency. With the new system, architects will no longer need to visit the office. This will also cut down human interface and ensure transparency. Hundreds of people visit the building branch daily to get their plans approved. Comprehensive training will be imparted to the staff of the building branch.

How it will work

An officer of the Estate Office said once the service was launched, the approval of the plan would be just a click away. Under the system, the applicants will submit the plan through the website. After paying the fee online, the plan will be scrutinised by the staff. The plan will be sent to members of the plan committee, who will approve it online. The members can also sent their objections, if any, to the applicants.