Real estate business in Kolkata has come to a standstill as major projects in the city and rest of the state are stalled since April since the mechanism to clear them has been lying dormant for almost six months. The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State-level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), which clear large-scale projects, remain defunct with no members on board.
At least 40 multi-crore projects have not moved beyond the planning stage. Developers are unable to apply for the mandatory environmental clearance in absence of the twin committees. Government also appears to be in no hurry and developers have to bear the brunt of time- and cost-overrun.
The impasse is inflicted by the delay of ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) in clearing names of members proposed by the state for the committees. Reports indicate that the state too was late in forwarding the names late. The term of the previous panels expired in April 2013. Since this was known, the environment department should have got the members for the next panel approved by April. But it was not done.
The robust mechanism was been put in place to ensure that norms are followed by developers and no major environmental damage is caused by the construction of multi-storied buildings. According to norms, all projects above 20,000 sq metre must first submit the conceptual plan before the SEIAA. Once the form is approved, the proposal has to be sent to the SEAC. If the proposal is approved, the developer has to submit the building plan to the SEAC. Following the recommendations of the SEAC, the SEIAA then issues the environment clearance for the project.
According to the Bengal chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Association of India (Credai-Bengal) since there has been vacuum for some time now, developers should be allowed to start the projects and construct up to 20,000 sq metre to prevent further wastage of time and resources. “Since the requirement is for SEIAA and SEAC clearance for projects above 20,000 sq metre, we want the KMC and other municipalities concerned to allow us to construct till the threshold. Thereafter, further construction should be allowed once the environmental clearances are in place,” said Credai-Bengal president Harsh Patodia
Source: infrawindow.com