Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has introduced major changes to the procedure for converting agricultural wet lands for non-agricultural use in non-planning areas, transferring approval powers from district collectors to the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), according to a government order reported on Saturday, November 7.

Source: IANS

The new arrangement allows the Director of Town and Country Planning to grant prior concurrence directly, replacing the earlier system under which applicants were required to secure clearance from district collectors before proceeding with planning permission. The Housing and Urban Development Department issued the government order on November 4, implementing amendments to the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, approved during the recent Assembly session, with the amendments covering Sections 47-A and 9-F of the Act. Department Secretary R. Kirlosh Kumar was cited in the reporting.

Source: IANS

What replaces the collector's site visit

The government has deleted Rule 6 of the 2017 Rules, which mandated inspection and scrutiny by district collectors. Under the revised procedure reported by The New Indian Express, applicants upload their documents on the state's Single Window Portal, and the Director obtains no-objection certificates from the revenue divisional officer, the district joint director of agriculture and an executive engineer of the Water Resources Department before deciding. Officials clarified that environmental and land-related safeguards would remain unchanged, and the change is expected to benefit landowners, builders and developers by reducing procedural delays.

Source: The New Indian Express (via Transclew)

Wet land is a revenue category covering irrigated farmland; the conversion rules apply only outside planning areas covered by a city or town development plan. The two-stage approval that required a collector's clearance before the DTCP stage has now been removed.

Source: IANS