7,036 property owners in Rajkot seek to regularise unauthorised constructions

Originally, the widow was to remain for four months. However, before the original deadline expired on February 16, the state government had extended the deadline by four months till June 16. Of the 7,036 applications received by the RMC, while 3,388 have been filed via government portal https://enagar.gujarat.gov.in, 3,650 were filed offline at various offices of the RMC, according to official data. Noticeably, the highest number of applications have been received from RMC wards 8, 10 and 11, which cover posh Amin Marg, Kalavad Road and Nana Mava areas, respectively.

While 654 applications have been received from Ward 8, 599 applications have been received from Ward 10. Ward 11 has seen 587 applications. The flow of applications has been high in wards 9 (509), 7 (501), 1 (490), 12 (435), 3 (432), 18 (404) and 2 (401), the data showed. The lowest number of applications, 86, has been received from Ward 15.

According to RMC officials, more applications have come from posh areas, as people are “educated” and are aware of the benefits of the scheme. “Educated people live in these areas and the houses are mostly bungalows. Majority of unauthorised developments, which they have sought to be regularised, are porch and additional toilets,” M D Sagathiya, town planning officer (TPO) of RMC, said.

Official data showed that the RMC has so far granted 840 applications while 166 have been rejected. The rest are pending.

“The RMC is supposed to dispose an application within four months but our teams are acting much faster. The pendency is due to applicants not solving our queries and also because a huge number of applications were in fact filed after February,” Sagathiya said. “We expect another flurry of applications over the next 10 days when the window for filing applications closes.”

Under the amnesty scheme, the government has decided to regularise unauthorised developments if the property owner pays a one-time fee, called the impact fee. “Around 20 per cent of the applications are seeking regularisation of development in the parking area of commercial buildings. But as per state government direction, we are granting such applications only if half the prescribed parking area is open after unauthorised development,” the TPO said.