Bhubaneswar: The state government has decided to delegate the duty of town planning to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), said an official at the orientation-cum-workshop of municipal engineers on building plan approval organised here Thursday.
The 74th Constitution Amendment Act provides for delegation of the town planning function to the ULBs.
“Keeping with the spirit of these amendments, the state government has already delegated town planning functions to five municipal corporations—Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. It will be shortly delegated to all ULBs. The move will immensely benefit the denizens,” said the official at the two-day workshop that aimed at capacity building of the nodal engineers of ULBs.
Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department Secretary G Mathi Vathanan, who inaugurated the workshop, emphasised on transparent and efficient delivery of planning services in order to ensure satisfaction of citizens and ease of doing business by generous use of technology.
He also sensitised the participants on ‘Mo Sarkar’ in which the feedback of citizens is collected through direct interaction. The H&UD Secretary advised the participants to rise up to the occasion and deliver services effectively.
Municipal Administration Director Sangramjit Nayak expressed confidence on proper delivery of town planning functions in the ULBs.
He said, “It’s a great responsibility and ULBs must be diligent to ensure that the quality of service is not compromised and no one is harassed by the employees of ULBs.”
H&UD Additional Secretary Sushant Mishra explained the statutory, functional and operational aspects of the town planning services.
Mishra said the online building plan system under ‘SUJOG’ has been developed to enable citizens to apply for building plan approvals and avail such services in a completely web enabled and computerised environment.
Necessary amendments in the Acts and Rules have been made to standardise the processes involved in building plan approval and to make the practice uniform throughout the state, he added.
The programme will focus on the statutory and technical issues involved in approving building plans and regulating unplanned growth of the urban areas.