The Jharkhand High Court heard the suo motu case registered in Ranchi Municipal Corporation and Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA) regarding recovery of illegal amount of Rs 20 to 30 per square feet for passing the map. A division bench of Justice S Chandrasekhar and Justice Anubha Rawat Chowdhary heard the state government’s side during the hearing of the case. It was told that on July 25, the new Auto DCR software to pass the map will start running online.
It will be trialled for a week. If the trial of the software is successful, then the process of passing the map will be started in the entire state. After this, the bench directed the Ranchi Municipal Corporation and RRDA to give information related to the pending building plan (map) through an affidavit. The bench fixed the date of August 2 for the next hearing of the case.
Earlier, advocate LCN Shahdev appeared on behalf of Ranchi Municipal Corporation and advocate Prashant Kumar Singh on behalf of RRDA. At the same time, advocate Piyush Chitresh, on behalf of the state government, told the bench that the new Auto DCR software has been prepared, which will go online on July 25 and the trial will be started. Amicus curiae advocate Indrajit Sinha was present during the hearing in the case. It is notable that the Jharkhand High Court, taking seriously the news published in Prabhat Khabar on November 29, 2022 regarding illegal recovery, had converted it into a writ petition.
Here is the case:
Getting the map of the building passed had become a complicated process. Apart from the prescribed fee, illegal amount is demanded for the approval of the map of the buildings. The map is not accepted if the illegal amount is not given. The map remains pending. Rs 30 to 50,000 for a small house and Rs 20-30 per square feet is charged for passing the map of the apartment.
Software will pass maps in five steps
The implementation process of map approval has been simplified in the cities of the state. The Urban Development Department has made necessary changes in the software with the aim of completing the entire process of map approval in 30 days. Trial run of the software has been started. The maps will be approved in five phases. After uploading the approved map on the website by the architect in the software, verification will be done within seven days. After this JE will visit the site and prepare its report.
If the map of the building plan is acceptable after the documents are correct, then it will be sent to the next stage. Otherwise, the map will be rejected. Acceptable maps will be sent to only three officers. The file will go to the Legal Officer, Town Plan and finally to the CEO of the Municipal Corporation or the Vice President of the Authority. They will have to approve the maps within three days.
