KMC mulls taking sanctioning process under its wings

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to singularly undertake the entire process of sanctioning housing projects on thika tenancy land in the city. The decision comes after some litigations were filed regarding misuse of Thika Tenancy Act, causing inordinate delay in executing housing projects on thika land.

"I have requested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to transfer thika tenancy through amendment of the law to KMC so that I can personally handle it. An applicant who wants to come up with housing projects on thika land has to take multiple NOC's from various departments and the process takes a long time," said Firhad Hakim, Chairman of Board of Administrators, KMC. "We are in the process of coming up with a policy on thika tenants and it will take few more months to put it in place," he maintained.

The Act empowers the tenant to build his own house by taking bank loans or through the government's Banglar Bari Scheme. "The dream of the slum dwellers to live in flats can be fulfilled through this Act," added Hakim. It allows the construction of multi-storeyed buildings on Thika land in Kolkata and Howrah lifting the earlier ban of not allowing construction beyond a height of 9.5 metres.

The thika tenants can have apartments up to five storeys, however, it is obligatory on the part of the thika tenants to accommodate the sub-tenants in the newly constructed houses.

All the thika tenants and sub-tenants should be rehabilitated in the new buildings. Each floor would measure around 385 square feet. In Kolkata, Thika land is around 2,000 acre while in Howrah the figure is around 517 acre. Thika tenancy land are in areas like Burrabazar, Sovabazar, Chetla and in Kalighat area to name a few.