Ranchi: The association of the licensed technical professionals of Jharkhand, comprising architects and engineers, has raised concerns regarding the delays and rejections in the approval of building maps within the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC).The association on Saturday sent a letter to the municipal commissioner, highlighting that property owners are currently required to pay holding taxes on vacant land and get a holding number before applying for map approval.However, despite being granted a holding number after full verification of documents — including the sale deed, mutation, updated rent receipts and khatian — applicants face severe hurdles later in the process.Head of the association Sujeet Bhagat said, “Many building plans are rejected on the grounds that the plots fall under the Chota Nagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act or other problem, with authorities demanding further proof of how the land status was changed to the general category. Two of the building plan applications submitted by me suffered a similar fate. When the holding number is provided after verification of documents, how can they stop the building plan approval, claiming that the documents provided are insufficient?”According to the association, out of approximately 1.60 lakh individual residential and commercial holdings within the city, a mere 35,080 possess legally approved maps from the RMC and the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA). The technical body argued that these rejections contradict established regulations. Citing Clause 27.2(1) of the Jharkhand Building Bye-Laws, the association pointed out that the approval of a building plan denotes only the permission to construct and does not establish or validate the ownership title of the land.Given that the local body does not certify property titles through this process, the association has urged the municipal commissioner to expedite the sanctioning of building maps for all applicants who have already been allotted a valid holding number. Bhagat informed that the association plans to meet the municipal commissioner on Monday to discuss the issue in detail.
