Environmental clearance turning out to be a tiresome affair

Nearly 300 files pending for last three months
Technical snag leads to documents uploading problem?

In order to construct multi-storey buildings and skyscrapers in Hyderabad, environmental clearance is mandatory from the State Pollution Control Board (PCB). However, construction of new multi-storey or skyscraper projects have come to a standstill for the last a few days as the Board is not issuing clearances. When Real Estate Guru inquired into the reasons behind the inordinate delay, interesting facts came to light.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao has been leaving no opportunity to boast about the TS-bPASS and how the building permits are being granted in Telangana within 21 days of submitting an applications. He also announced that fines would be imposed on the officials who do not adhere to the norms and issue permissions within stipulated time.

Accordingly, Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) Satyanarayana too imposed fines on several town planning staff in this regard recently. Though the municipal department has been working as per guidelines, timely clearances are not being issued by the Fire department, PCB, Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and power supply. Developers are suffering due to this inordinate delay by the officials. As a result, 200-300 files are pending for environmental clearance with the PCB. Despite repeated requests from the builders, there has been no response from officials.

Here’s the problem

Due to certain technical snags, hundreds of files are not getting uploaded on the PCB portal. One must remember that numerous projects are coming up not only in Hyderabad, but also other urban areas in various parts of the State. Hence, a large percentage of developers want Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to intervene and address the issue. They are appealing for tough measures to be taken to prevent similar problems from recurring in the future.

Revenue to the government?

If the environmental clearance for the construction projects is obtained, the builders will pay the fees to the local agencies and obtain the final approval. However, with all the files pending, the developers are unable to pay the fees. Thus, the government revenues is not upto the mark.