PANJIM: The Town and Country Planning (TCP) department have simplified the process for construction activity by empowering notary engineers and architects with powers to issue technical clearance and grant approvals on behalf of the TCP and the Panning and Development Authorities (PDAs).
All three notary engineers and three architects have been appointed by the TCP to grant technical clearance and offer quick approvals on behalf of the PDA to simplify the process involved in construction activity across the State. The parties can now approach them instead of going to the TCP or PDAs.
Engineers Bharat Kamat, Thomas D’Costa and Vilas Bhangui have been appointed as notary engineers while, Pallavi Satardekar, Pradnya Parsekar and Anuradha Guglani are the three notary architects. They have also been allowed to collect fees on behalf of the TCP department and submit it to the State treasury.
The notary engineers and notary architects have been empowered to issue technical clearance, development permission and completion order for low-risk buildings having a built-up area of a maximum of 500 square metres and the height of the building is limited to ground plus two storeys including stilt floor and/or compound wall in respect of plots of up to 500 square metres of approved sub-division lay out by the competent authority.
According to Bharat Kamat, the parties used to visit the TCP or PDAs to submit their files and sometimes it would take many days till the file is marked to the dealing official, who would take more days to study the file and then finally get an inspection and clear the file. He said that parties can now approach the notary engineers and notary architects with their proper documentation for approvals from the TCP and PDAs. The government has simplified the process to alleviate the hardships faced by the parties through the Ease of Doing Business, he said.
