Development laws stop rural areas' construcion

Kakinada: The people in the rural areas of the state are facing difficulties when it comes to getting permissions for construction of their buildings as the Urban Development Authority is not giving approvals to them. The UDA has not been accepting the proposals for non-layout sites and panchayat buildings unless they meet the required guidelines. In the past 2-3 decades, many members of the middle class had purchased land for constructing buildings, though real estate ventures had not got any lay-out plans from the authorities.

Some of the property owners who bore the costs have even completed the constructions. Before the formation of the UDA, it was the panchayats that collected the conversion of land fees and development fees and give out plan approvals. The panchayats did so based on G.O number 67 which allows 14 per cent of such charges from the landowners. However, as per G.O number 119 and AP Urban Development Rules, there is no such facility approve non-layout sites. Unless there are approvals for the plan, bankers or financial institutions will not grant loans for construction of any house or building.

This has resulting in property owners losing the market value when they tried to sell the land. Many of the non-layout site owners have applied  for plan approvals from the UDA, but the officials have not been able to do justice to them because the rules and regulations do not give them the option to do so. “The UDA cannot give plan approvals for non-layout sites to building owners of various panchayats who want to demolish their structures or construct new buildings, unless they meet the UDA guidelines,” says Gatti China Satyanarayana, Director of Godavari Urban Development Authority. He said that though houses may have been constructed 30 or 50 years back and have a door number; they should still meet the urban development norms. He added that panchayat buildings should have a minimum of 33 feet for roads and other facilities.