After plane acquisition,Ajit Singh takes charge of height clearance

The committee decides on height clearance to buildings coming up in and around airports,near runways or in the glide path of an aircraft. The panel was called the Grievance Redressal Committee and functioned under the chairman of the Airports Authority of India AAI.

Applicants who were not satisfied with the decision of the regional office of the AAI responsible for approving the height of buildings,masts,chimneys and transmission lines,among others,could appeal to this panel requesting an increase in the height approved or seek fresh aeronautical studies.

In January,Ajit Singh ordered that the committee be reconstituted and placed directly under his ministry,with a joint secretary heading it.

However,the joint secretary,Alok Sinha,was removed as the chairman of the panel on February 25 and Anil Srivastava was appointed in his place. The move,it is learnt,followed an acrimonious meeting of the appellate committee on February 13 at which 30 cases were listed in their order of seniority.

Documents with The Indian Express show that the 30 cases involved firms such as Lamp;T Realty,A R Babu,Reliance Industries,Square Consultants,Godrej amp; Boyce,Mantri Mansion,Pashmina Realty,Wadhwa Residency,Joy Builders,Lokhandwala Kataria,Wilfred Pereira and B S Joshi for Brighton Architect,C/o DB Realty.

The meeting,however,was called off and those representing the 30 cases were asked to leave without any reason being cited after serious differences arose over the listing of cases,sources said.

After Srivastavas appointment as chairman,another meeting was called on March 20 and a fresh list of cases was prepared. The committee scrapped the original list and considered 18 new cases,including the case of B S Joshi from the earlier list.

Another meeting of the committee on May 22 discussed 12 appeal cases in the absence of the parties concerned. These involved firms such as Gammon India,Pride Hill Developers,Pilot Construction,A R Babu,Fantasy Buildwell,Reliance Industries,Indiabulls Real Estate and Wadhwa Residency.

On May 24,it was decided that the cases be segregated into various categories,which a committee member said would help reduce delays. He also said the process had been put online to speed it up.

One ministry official,however,said that the panel was following a pick and choose policy,with only select cases being taken up. The official said there was a huge delay in clearing cases and around 200 cases,some from as far back as 2008,were still pending as there was no transparency or norms to list appeals.

There were serious complaints on the other side. There was a long list of pending cases and the backlog had to be cleared, Ajit Singh said when reached for his comment. The charge was redistributed to streamline/decentralize the functioning of the committee. The committee earlier functioned under AAI but it being an appellate body,it should be under the ministry. There were complaints and it is now being streamlined.

Alok Sinha refused to comment.

The reconstitution of the panel has not stopped complaints from applicants.

On April 30,Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Adeeb wrote to Singh,complaining that Bharat Rajpara,owner of Star Gold Private,was being discriminated against. There are approx 10 properties,which got the NOC from AAI,Mumbai,which are of the same height or more height than that of Rajparas property. Please look into this, Adeeb wrote.