Huda’s Building Plan Approval Goes Online

Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has put its building plan approval system online for the entire state, doing away with the existing manual system. The new digital system is expected to make the process of building plan approval less cumbersome and more transparent, and leave little scope for corruption.

Successive Haryana governments have been trying to implement this system for some time. A policy guideline was prepared in this regard in May 2009, and after seven years of trial and error, the state has finally managed to create an error free software, named ‘online approval of building plan’. The notification for implementation of this system was issued on June 15.

“The present system of building plan approvals was manual, and used to take over a month, during which the plan would pass through various lengthy and cumbersome processes, normally requiring the applicant much more than the prescribed 21 days. The new online system was implemented to expedite this process and ensure homogeneous and uniform scrutiny throughout the state,” said a senior Huda official, adding that under the new system, approval will be given in just six days. A timeline has been fixed for different officials to carry out their designated roles.

Admitting the manual process had been marred by delays, irregularities and complaints of corruption, the Huda official claimed the online system will make such irritants a thing of the past, as applicants will not be required to visit any office or official for the purpose.

One has to get a building plan approved from concerned estate officer, to carry out any construction on land in Huda sectors, as well as land allotted by the urban development body. “Earlier, a committee used to scrutinise the building plan with representatives from the estate office and the engineering wing,” said the Huda official, adding all this will now happen online.

Elaborating further, he said architects will have to submit a fresh CAD drawing of the building plan to Huda on Huda’s portal, using the password and user ID of the architect registered with Huda. If the plan is technically approved by the AutoDCR (Automatic Development Control Rule), a printout of the plan, having signatures of the architect and the plot owner, along with required documents, will be submitted to the junior engineer (JE). The JE will then submit a ground inspection report in two days, following which, the estate officer will take the final call on whether to approve or reject the plan.

In case a plan is rejected, the estate officer will have to give reasons for rejection. “The status of the plan submission will be sent to the allottee by SMS, email and post,” said the official. Applicants can also trace its status online.

Welcoming the move, Huda empanelled architect Anil Yadav said, the system will benefit all and also check corruption. “Architects have been making drawings on CAD already for the last several years, so it would have been so much better if implemented earlier. But better late than never,” said Yadav, adding under the new system, the architect will know the reason for the rejection of a plan and thus get time to correct the deficiencies. He added, “Things will now be done in a week, and the role of middleman will be cut out.”