Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Department is taking steps to monitor officials involved in approving apartment building plans, following complaints of improper collections linked to the process.
In the Chennai metropolitan area, the power to grant approvals for multi-storey buildings earlier rested with the government. Applications finalised at the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) were forwarded to the department, and details of each file were placed before the minister for clearance.
During the previous regime, there were allegations that applicants were made to pay money described as “party funds”, calculated on a per-square-foot basis, to secure approvals. After the change in government, an order was issued to stop such collections.
To implement this, CMDA has been empowered to issue approvals without sending apartment project files to the minister. However, fresh complaints have surfaced that separate payments are being sought at the official level for file scrutiny.
A senior official said the government has directed that building permits must be issued to the public without bribes, and that measures—including special monitoring—are being examined to prevent illegal collections by officials.
