Pune Municipal Corporation has made a No Objection Certificate from its Land Acquisition and Management Department mandatory before approving construction proposals on roads identified for widening under Section 210, in a move intended to prevent disputes and financial losses during future road expansion.
PMC Commissioner Naval Kishor Ram issued the order through a circular and directed officials to implement it immediately. Under the new process, the Building Department must obtain the NOC before granting permission for new construction on roads covered by the widening provisions.
The order requires the city engineer and Building Department officials to conduct a site inspection after a construction permission proposal is submitted. The inspection must establish the exact area likely to be affected by the road widening, whether the affected land has been taken into PMC possession and how compensation has been paid to the landowner, according to the report by Loksatta – Pune.
PMC undertakes road widening as part of efforts to address traffic congestion. Under the existing development framework described in the report, landowners may receive additional Floor Space Index based on the widened road, while developers may receive benefits such as Transferable Development Rights. These incentives are intended to support the acquisition of land required for expanding roads.
However, the municipal corporation has found that land taken for road widening is not always formally recorded in its name. This can create problems later, when the civic body needs to take actual possession of the land. In such cases, PMC may face disputes and additional financial liabilities while completing the acquisition process.
The new NOC requirement places the land and possession status of a plot at the centre of the building approval process. Officials will have to verify whether the portion affected by the proposed widening has been identified, whether it has legally come into PMC possession and whether the relevant compensation process has been completed before permission is issued.
The order is aimed at preventing construction approvals from being granted on land that the civic body may later need for road expansion. It also seeks to ensure that the benefits offered in return for land, including additional FSI and TDR-related provisions, are matched by clear records of acquisition and possession.
The immediate implementation of the circular will require coordination between PMC’s Building Department, city engineering officials and the Land Acquisition and Management Department. The site verification and NOC process will now form part of construction permission scrutiny for properties located along roads proposed to be widened under Section 210.