Nagpur: Nearly 88% of 3,669 buildings constructed in Nagpur city do not have Occupancy Certificates (OCs), with only 426 having obtained the mandatory certificate.Union minister Nitin Gadkari has now directed authorities to issue notices to the remaining 3,243 buildings and resolve the pending issues within four months.The directions came during a meeting at Gadkari’s Mahal office on Sunday to discuss Nag River Project, building permission certificates and OCs. State revenue minister and guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also present.According to the figures discussed at the meeting, only 426 of the 3,669 buildings have obtained OCs, leaving 3,243 without the certificate. Gadkari directed authorities to issue notices to these buildings and complete the process of resolving the issues within four months.The meeting also sought to clear the confusion over the registration of houses and flats in Nagpur district. Gadkari and Bawankule clarified that no order has been issued by them or chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to stop the registration of new independent houses.They said registrations would continue under the existing rules, provided applicants submit the required legal documents and all necessary certificates. The confusion, they said, had arisen over issues concerning building permission certificates and OCs, particularly in the case of large buildings.The clarification comes days after Bawankule had announced at a District Planning Committee (DPC) meeting on July 27 that registration of flats across Nagpur would be suspended until further orders. The move was linked to a proposed verification of whether builders had complied with mandatory infrastructure and safety requirements before obtaining OCs.Bawankule had also directed the district sub-registrar to halt flat registrations until further orders and asked Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to submit a detailed report within seven days on compliance with mandatory infrastructure norms by residential projects before obtaining OCs.However, at Sunday’s meeting, Gadkari and Bawankule clarified that no decision had been taken to stop registrations of independent houses in the district.Gadkari also asked authorities to handle cases involving residents sensitively but strictly within the legal framework. He noted that several residents had purchased homes after obtaining loans on the basis of incomplete documentation.At the same time, he directed that developers who fail to obtain OCs should not be allowed to register their properties.The latest directions put the focus on the 3,243 buildings without OCs, with authorities now expected to issue notices and resolve the pending issues within four months.In another decision discussed earlier, Bawankule had announced that NMC would henceforth approve building plans in layouts developed by the erstwhile Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), bringing building permissions under a single planning authority.
