Pune: Serious security concerns have been raised over the lack of an efficient system within PMC to determine whether Union ministry of defence (MoD) no objection certificates (NOC) are being used fraudulently for construction activity in the city.As per regulations, height clearance for buildings is granted by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) building permission department in accordance with permissible height limits specified in the MoD’s Colour Coded Zoning Map (CCZM), as well as the official circular from the city engineer’s office.However, a PMC investigation in 2024 had revealed that a developer fraudulently used an NOC, claimed to have been issued by the MoD, to execute a project in Wadgaon Budruk. A senior PMC official told TOI, “The civic administration carried out an inquiry into the misuse of the documents. We are checking if more such fake NOCs have been submitted. The process of filing criminal offences has been initiated in this case.”Civic data shows that 638 permissions have been granted over the last 10 years on the basis of this category of NOCs.The issue of the misused NOC came to light following a question raised at a PMC general body meeting last week. The property for which the NOC was originally genuine was located at survey no. 1 in Ambegaon Budruk. However, it was subsequently discovered that this NOC was not actually used for the Ambegaon Budruk property, but was fraudulently applied to a separate property file in Wadgaon Budruk.Following this, the licenced architect concerned was blacklisted, and a stop-work notice was served to the developer in 2024. A fine of Rs5 lakh was imposed, and a first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Sinhagad Road police station against the agent who procured the fraudulent document. A fresh NOC was subsequently submitted and cross-verified. After the genuineness of the document was confirmed, the stop-work notice was withdrawn, stated the civic administration’s reply to the recent query in the GB meeting.In the meeting, corporator Sneha Malwade from Ghorpadi Peth had asked, “Does PMC have any independent technical or online verification system to verify the MoD NOCs?”According to PMC’s response, it has no such “independent technical or online verification system”, but instead carries out these verifications via email.Citizens have pointed out that such a lax system sparks security concerns. Activist Vijay Kumbhar of the Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, a citizens’ group, highlighted, “The areas where these NOCs are granted are located close to defence establishments. As these are sensitive zones, the authorities must remain vigilant while granting construction permissions.”
