PCMC to fast-track building completion certificates

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has now decided to issue completition certificates to builders and individual building owners "as fast as possible" unlike in the past,when it took months to issue the certificates.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation(PCMC) has now decided to issue completition certificates to builders and individual building owners “as fast as possible” unlike in the past,when it took months to issue the certificates. The move will benefit thousands of residents who have been living in buildings that are tagged as illegal,thereby creating multiple problems for the owners.

The demand for issuing completition certificates which is in also in the interest of the civic body as it generates revenue in lakhs every year soon after the apartment work is completed,had been pending for years. The civic administration had largely ignored the demand citing lack of provision in the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act. But now,after the newly-elected MLA Laxman Jagtap renewed the demand,the civic administration is showing its readiness to issue the completion certificate at the earliest. Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma on Friday said his administration was ready to issue the completition certificate in less than 90 days,but with certain conditions. “We will issue completion certificates at the earliest,provided the owners get their act right. The owners must ensure that their documents are in order and the construction does not violate any laid-down norm,” Sharma said

However,PCMC deputy city engineer Vasant Kachi said it was not obligatory for civic body to issue completition certificate within 90 days as there is no such provision in the BPMC Act. “Currently,it takes five to six months to issue the completition certificate as it involves a range issues like proper documents,completion of the work,inspection by the civic body and Building and Communication department,” he said.

Dismissing this as a lame excuse,MLA Jagtap said if there was no provision in BPMC Act,locally the civic body has the right to make the norm. “We will make it compulsory at the civic body level to issue completition certificate in 90 days. Even at the state-level,I will take up the issue in the Legislative Assembly,” he said. Jagtap said without completition certificate,a society cannot be registered which means the residents cannot take bank loans. “Similarly,the civic body too is deprived of revenue,” he said.

Kachi refused to put a figure to those living in buildings sans completion certificates,but other civic officials said the figure runs into thousands. Jagtap said there are several buildings that are in existence for over a decade without getting completion certificates.

Sharma said the completion certificates remain pending because owners and builders fight shy of seeking them in view of the illegality of their construction. “This affects them as well as the civic body which loses huge revenue,” he said. The civic chief said his administration has already simplified the procedure about seeking building construction by opening a single window system where the work is completed in less than seven days.

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