Chennai: Obtaining planning permissions for high-rise buildings (HRB) is bound to get quicker, as the state govt has yet again delegated the authority to approve high-rise building projects in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). The decision was announced through a GO by the housing and urban development department on June 15.The move follows a request from CMDA, which said that routing proposals through the govt after technical scrutiny was leading to additional procedural delays. The govt accepted the proposal and decided to vest approval powers with the planning authority itself.The order amends provisions of the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules (TNCDBR), 2019, under which proposals for HRBs were forwarded to the govt for final approval. In 2022, a GO was issued to grant power to the CMDA to clear planning permissions for HRB (taller than 18m). However, a year later, the TNCDBR was amended to nullify the GO and made it mandatory to get approval from the govt.“Until now, developers submitted their applications for permission for HRBs to the CMDA. After field inspections, the applications were placed before the HRB committee for consideration. The proposals were then forwarded to the govt, and planning permission was granted only after the issuance of GO. Now this has been amended,” said an official.The govt has reconstituted the HRB scrutiny panel. It will be chaired by the member secretary of CMDA and include representatives from the fire and rescue services department, Metrowater, GCC, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, water resources department, public works department and the police traffic wing. “This is a welcome move as it will speed up the process. Going to the govt and getting a GO used to take at least two months,” said S Sridharan, executive committee member Credai National.
