NOC condition waived, realtors upbeat
Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, November 24
Providing a major relief to the crisis-ridden realty sector and a large number of people residing in unauthorised colonies across the state, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has waived the condition of obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from urban development authorities or local bodies.
In a circular issued by the Engineer-in-Chief (Commercial) of the PSPCL on November 20, it has been stated that the NOC would not be required for getting new power connections under the domestic category except in those cases where the residential houses were getting direct approach from scheduled roads/national highways or were located in a restricted area under any Act.
The relaxation, however, will not apply to issue of new power connections under the commercial, industrial and institutional categories where the applicants would be required to obtain an NOC before applying for new connections. In other words, applicants under these categories would have to obtain NOCs from the development authority concerned or local bodies on payment of change of land use (CLU) charges wherever applicable.
The waiver of NOC for new residential power connections has come as a welcome decision for the real estate sector, especially for developers of unauthorised colonies, as a big hurdle in the way of houses constructed in such colonies getting new power connections has been removed. However, for the regulatory bodies (read GLADA/PUDA and Municipal Corporation), new guidelines have come as a dampener as many officials feel that the move would further promote proliferation of illegal colonies.
A senior GLADA official said for property owners in illegal colonies, obtaining new power connection was a big problem. “Now that the condition of NOC has been waived both for new power connections and registration of title deeds, not only many of the old colonies (under process of regularisation) will be further expanded but many others will also mushroom,” he said.
In a separate but related decision, the PSPCL has also made an amendment to time limit for the release of new connections or extension of load. The Chief Engineer (Commercial), PSPCL, has issued directions that new power connections for the domestic supply (DS) category consumers be release within seven days from the compliance of the demand notice where no augmentation, erection and extension of distribution main or distribution transformer was required,
The time limit for issue of new power connections to all other categories of consumers except the DS category, would be 30 days from the date of compliance of the demand notice.
