Despite past fiasco, MBMC plans to revive OC amnesty scheme
Despite witnessing a flopshow earlier, the BJP-led Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has one again rolled up its sleeves to revive its amnesty scheme for housing societies in the twin-city to obtain the mandatory Occupancy Certificates (OC).
Rolled out in 2015, the validity of the scheme ended on 31, March, 2018 after being given a couple of extensions. However, to the surprise and disappointment of MBMC's Town Planning wing, none of the applicants qualified to be beneficiaries of the much needed amnesty.
While most of applications stood rejected for lack of requisite documents, those which fulfilled the criteria had failed to deposit the one time penalty amount calculated at Rs 200 per square meter, bring the scheme down to a nullifying end.
A resolution apparently aimed at simplifying the qualification process has found its place in the agenda of the general body meeting scheduled on September 4. To provide relief to thousands of people who live in buildings for which the builder has not obtained an OC, the MBMC had formulated an “Amnesty ” scheme exclusively for housing societies. A resolution to this effect was passed following which the scheme was implemented from 1, April, 2015. Although the scheme was aimed at cutting down on paperwork and speed up the process of issuing OC’s, hundreds of buildings in the region have either deviated from original plans or have been loaded with massive illegal additions defeating the purpose of the endeavor. Buildings that are at least five year old and are built as per plan are eligible for amnesty under the scheme which mandates housing societies to submit documents including 5-year old existence proof, open land tax clearance, fire NOC’s and structural stability certificates. Apart from other hurdles, people living in building sans OC have to pay triple property tax as penalty.
Without occupancy certificates, countless buildings in twin city forced to bear triple penalty brunt and land conveyance issues