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The Star
7 days ago
- Business
- The Star
KL strata residents fear redevelopment under URA
A Pangsapuri Bukit Ria resident says many owners there have yet to receive their strata titles. — Photos: KAMARUL ARIFFIN and LEW GUAN XI/The Star Pangsapuri Cantik owners relayed concerns during authorities' visit SEVERAL residents in three city strata properties have voiced worries over possible redevelopment under the proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) and Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040 (KLLP 2040). Pangsapuri Cantik and Pangsapuri Bukit Ria in Taman Bukit Ria as well as Flat Taman Kobena in Taman Kobena, all in Cheras, are among 139 sites identified as having potential for redevelopment under KLLP 2040. Pangsapuri Cantik resident Lee Cheok Seng said a recent site visit by Town and Country Planning Department (PlanMalaysia) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) on July 24 was URA-related. 'The visit gave us the opportunity to tell the authorities why we don't want our apartments redeveloped,' he said. Lee told StarMetro that a company had approached residents in May last year with a redevelopment proposal that would significantly increase density. 'It proposed redeveloping Pangsapuri Cantik, which currently has four storeys and 87 units, into a 46-storey Cantik Residence with 465 units. 'However, all Pangsapuri Cantik needs is refurbishment. 'We hope the government can provide an interest-free loan for this to be carried out,' said Lee. Another Pangsapuri Cantik resident, Sukhdev Singh Cheema, raised concerns about worsening traffic in the area if the high-density redevelopment project proceeded. 'The traffic situation has worsened through the years following several nearby projects,' he said. 'Motorists from various residential areas pass through here to access Jalan Loke Yew, especially during peak hours. Lee (left) and Sukhdev are against redeveloping Pangsapuri Cantik. They say the four-storey apartment building only needs refurbishment. 'Imagine if several nearby strata properties were redeveloped into high-density apartments with about 500 units each. Traffic would be a nightmare.' Echoing Sukhdev's sentiments was Flat Taman Kobena Management Corporation (MC) chairman Sathivel Kathiraveloo, who said traffic congestion was a daily affair in the area. 'DBKL should address this issue, not approve more high-density developments that could worsen the traffic situation,' he said. Pangsapuri Bukit Ria resident Jeremy Kong called for the government to resolve strata title woes at his apartment building before considering any redevelopment proposals. 'The owners here have not received their strata titles since moving into the apartment in the 1980s,' he said. 'Without strata titles, we don't have legal ownership rights and can't vote for any proposals, including redevelopment.' At a forum organised by Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association (KLRA+SD) last month, stakeholders raised their concerns over the consent threshold under URA. Under the draft Bill, a consent threshold of 80% has been set for properties under 30 years and 75% for those over 30 years. Sukhdev said maintaining the current 100% consent threshold was important to avoid gentrification in redeveloped properties. 'Without it, a minority of owners who oppose redevelopment will be forcefully displaced. 'They wouldn't be able to afford higher maintenance costs that would come with the new project,' he said. National House Buyers Association secretary-general Datuk Chang Kim Loong had also said the 100% consent threshold must be kept. However, Taman Desa resident James Tan Kok Kiat said it would be very challenging to achieve 100% consent in renewal projects, and keeping that threshold was not practical. KLRA+SD chairman Tan Booi Charn urged the government to prioritise owner-initiated renewal projects.
Indian Express
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
SC sounds alarm over environmental destruction in Himachal: ‘Day not far when entire state may vanish'
'The day is not far when the entire state of Himachal Pradesh may vanish,' said the Supreme Court Friday as it sounded the alarm on the deteriorating environmental situation in the Himalayan state that has frequently borne the brunt of natural disasters. Flagging a range of issues in the ecologically sensitive region, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed the registration of a case in the public interest and sought the Himachal Pradesh government's response within four weeks. The bench was hearing a hotel group's challenge to a Himachal Pradesh High Court order that restricted constructions in an area declared as a green zone by the state's Town and Country Planning Department in June. Refusing to interfere with the High Court's decision, the top court said it 'would like to say something in the larger interest of the state of Himachal Pradesh and its inhabitants'. '…We are afraid to say that it is too late in the day for the state to issue such notifications and try to save the situation. The situation in the state of Himachal Pradesh has gone from bad to worse. The severe ecological imbalance and other environmental conditions have led to serious natural calamities over a period of years. This year also hundreds of people perished in the floods and landslides & thousands of properties got destroyed,' it said. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, Himachal Pradesh has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,539 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 20. So far, 94 people have died and 36 are missing in rain-related incidents while 1,352 houses have been fully or partially damaged. The court went on to list a number of serious concerns in the Himalayan state — the 'visible' and 'alarming' impact of climate change; deforestation; hydropower projects reportedly causing water shortages and landslides; unchecked tourism affecting the ecological balance and straining resources; and relentless construction of four-lane roads, tunnels and multi-storey buildings to cater to the increasing footfall. Communities living near hydro-electric projects frequently report water scarcity, landslides, and even structural cracks in their homes, the bench said, adding: 'Apparently, the minimum outflow of water, as is contractually mandated, is not being adhered to by the project proponents, resulting in the vanishing of aquatic life. In fact, the mighty trans Himalayan river Sutlej stands reduced to a rivulet.' 'During peak seasons, the influx of tourists results in traffic congestion, waste generation, noise pollution, overuse of water resources, and encroachment into ecologically sensitive areas. Hill towns often struggle with waste disposal and water shortages during tourist seasons. Every step of the waste management process presents difficulties for the state,' it said. 'The danger to the state's natural richness is growing as a result of human greed and apathy,' it said, calling for immediate, sustainable planning and conservation measures. The bench said all Himalayan states need to collate resources and expertise to ensure their development plans are cognisant of environmental challenges. 'All that we want to convey today is that it is high time that the state pays attention to what we have observed and starts taking necessary action at the earliest in the right direction. The Union of India also owes an obligation to see that the ecological imbalance in the state does not get further disturbed and natural calamities do not occur.' 'We want to impress upon the State Government and Union of India respectively that earning revenue is not everything. If things proceed the way they are as on date, then the day is not far when the entire state of HP may vanish in thin air from the map of the country,' it said. Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Puducherry rolls out one-time regularisation scheme for unauthorised constructions
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Monday formally launched the one-time regularisation scheme for unauthorised constructions and plan violations. The scheme was inaugurated at a function organised in the Chief Minister's chamber in the Legislative Assembly in the presence of Speaker R. Selvam, Public Works Minister K. Lakshminarayanan and officials from the Puducherry Planning Authority and the Town and Country Planning Department. 'The Puducherry One-Time Regularization Scheme for the unpermitted constructions and deviations 2025' will be applicable to buildings constructed and roofed/floored between May 1, 1987 and July 16, 2025 in all regions of Puducherry. Applications for regularisation should be submitted only online and within a period of one year from the date of publication of the notification. Along with the required fees, building plan and certificates/permits documents should be submitted as per the checklist attached with the application, a press note said. A dedicated software module, the Online Building Permission System (OBPS), has been designed by National Informatics Centre in Puducherry to implement the scheme. This will prevent disconnection of electricity, water and sewage facilities, denial of permission to register a building plot, sealing and demolition of a building that violates building regulations. The application fee for residential building is ₹5000 and ₹10,000 for other than residential building. A non-refundable scrutiny fees applies at the rate of ₹20/- per sq.m for residential building and ₹50 per sq.m for other than residential building. The regularisation charges for unauthorised deviated construction for residential building is ₹500 per sq.m, ₹750 per sq.m for mixed use building and special building and ₹1000 per sq.m for multi-storeyed buildings. Government buildings will be exempted from payment of regularisation charges. However, Government aided schools will have to pay 50% of regularisation charges for mixed use building and special building at the rate of ₹750 per sq.m and in the case of multi-storeyed buildings at the rate of ₹1000 per sq.m as applicable. The amnesty scheme will not be applicable in specific cases where the applicant does not have title deed of land or the property, occupies encroached government land or abuts areas designated for development projects. The details of the Regularization Scheme may be accessed from the website of Town and Country Planning Department, Puducherry ( or the website of Puducherry Planning Authority, Puducherry (
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Puducherry government notifies one-time regularisation scheme for unauthorised structures
The Puducherry government has notified a scheme to regularise unauthorised buildings and structures that were built in deviation of the plan approved by the authorities as a one-time measure after paying a fee. The scheme allows owners of unauthorised buildings and those constructed in deviation of the sanctioned plan to register with Town and Country Planning Department by paying a non-refundable application fee of ₹5,000 for residential buildings and ₹10,000 for other structures. Also, a scrutiny fee at the rate of ₹20 per square metre for residential buildings and ₹50 per square metre for applications other than residential buildings has to be paid in the name of the Member Secretary of the concerned Planning Authority of the Union Territory, the notification said. The application should have details, such as floor plans, elevations, and sections of the buildings constructed, the site plan, building plan, and wherever applicable, the service and parking plans as provided in the Puducherry Building Byelaws and Zoning Regulations and specifications. The Planning Authority Committee before allowing the owner to pay the fine would examine the application to ascertain whether minimum safety and security provisions in the buildings have been provided, such as clearance and overhead electric lines, availability of minimum width of road, parking facilities, facilities for persons with disabilities, fire escape staircase, lift, provisions for waste disposal, solar-assisted water heating and lighting systems and other provisions in the building bye-laws holding serious safety and security concerns, the notification said. While the government buildings were exempted from payment of the one-time fee, owners of residential buildings would have to pay ₹500 per square metre and mixed use buildings/special buildings have to remit ₹750 per square metre as regularisation charges. The fee for multi-storey buildings has been fixed at ₹1,000 per square metre, the notification said. According to a senior official, there are thousands of unauthorised structures and those constructed by violating the approved plan. The entire fee collected as a one-time charge would be parked in a corpus fund and would be used for infrastructure development in the Union Territory, he said. The concerned planning authority would serve notice to all the owners of unauthorised buildings or buildings with deviations from the approved plan within a period of six months from the notification of the scheme. The scheme has been notified on July 16, the official said.
Indian Express
12-07-2025
- Indian Express
‘Duped' with CM's forged letter, fake RERA approvals, Gurugram residents lodge FIRs against real-estate developers, Sohna tehsildar and patwari; probe on
A tehsildar and a patwari posted in Gurugram and six others, including a real-estate developer company, were booked on Thursday on charges of corruption, cheating and forgery, besides various other provisions punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly duping people on the pretext of selling parcels of land in the name of the Haryana government's policy of promoting 'organic farming'. The parcels of land are located in Karnki and Tolni villages in Sohna tehsil of Gurugram district — around 11 km from the district headquarters. The matter dates back to 2020-2021 when the accused allegedly started publicising these parcels of land in the name of developing farmhouses/ residential colonies. The complainants in the two FIRs, Survina Bhalla (80) and Amit Banga (58), alleged that they were duped by the accused, who showed them forged letters of 'Hon'ble Haryana CM, forged approvals by the Town and Country Planning Department and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)'. The complainants alleged that 'the accused appeared very wealthy, always used to come in Mercedes cars with PSO [Personal Security Officer], and mostly used to call on WhatsApp, stating they have meetings with ministers/ senior officials'. The FIRs have been registered against real-estate developer company M/s Goldkist Developers Pvt Ltd, its director Raj Bala and her husband Hari Das Gupta, its other director Braham Parkash Aggarwal, tehsildar Shikha Garg, patwari Asgar and others, including Balwan Singh and Rajesh Kumar Gupta. The two FIRs, No. 133 and 134, were registered on Thursday at Gurugram's DLF-II police station, following the orders by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Gurugram) Ramesh Chander, and are currently under investigation. 'Orders were received from the Hon'ble ACJM's court on July 8, and we registered FIRs. Further investigation is going on,' one of the investigating police officers said. According to both FIRs, which contents are similar, the complainants alleged that they were shown parcels of land for constructing farmhouses/ houses by the accused, who claimed to have got all the requisite approvals of 'Haryana's Director (Town and Country Planning), RERA, and Hon'ble Chief Minister of Haryana'. While Bhalla alleged that she 'paid Rs 1.30 crore initially, spent over Rs 2 crore on levelling the land and construction, but the accused subsequently demanded another Rs 5 crore and then Rs 25 crore for getting her all the requisite approvals'. Banga alleged that he had paid Rs 2.94 crore to the accused. The complainants alleged that it was only after they had made the payments and got the sale deeds registered in their names, which were signed by the tehsildar and the patwari, that they started construction work on their respective parcels of land. However, they were left shocked when, in July 2021, officials of the District Town Planner (Enforcement) came to their sites and started demolishing their structures with JCB machines. After the registry of the land, for which he also took possession and constructed the boundary walls, Banga said in his complaint, which also forms part of the FIR, 'I started making plans for our dream house to be built and also engaged an architect and construction company for the same. However, on July 6, 2021, officials of the District Town Planner (Enforcement) came to the project with JCBs and demolished the boundary walls of all the farm lands. When we tried to stop the government authorities, we were told by them [officials] that the accused persons did not have any approvals from the DTCP or the RERA and that we had been cheated of our hard-earned money. When I showed the printed Brochures, papers and FAQ to the enforcement authorities, they informed me that all these documents were forged and fabricated, and we became victims of a planned cheating scheme floated by the accused persons in conspiracy with each other.' When the complainants approached the tehsildar and patwari, both told them that they registered the sale deeds as per the norms. However, the complainants allege that both revenue department officials acted in connivance with the other accused persons.
