Housing and Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo and Chief Secretary GC Pati on Friday officially inaugurated the Bhubaneswar Development Authority’s (BDA) first Citizen Services Centre for building plan approvals and occupancy certificates in the city.
This centre is located at the BDA Market Complex at Samantha Vihar and would receive applications for processing at the BDA. With effect from Friday, the BDA office would not accept the applications for approval of building plan and occupancy certificate, said BDA sources.
The BDA would effectively manage the core function of adjudication from its main office and the sanction letters would be handed back to the applicants via the BDA Citizen Services Centres. Applicants could get services from the centred between 10 am and 5 pm of every working day.
BDA Vice-Chairman Krishan Kumar said the BDA has brought in the VFS Global as its partner to process building plan approvals and occupancy certificates.
The next service centre would be inaugurated on December 22 at the Sector-7 Market Complex of Kalinga Vihar, he added.
Kumar also said the BDA is taking longer time for its work due to lack of manpower and professional expertise and process management, but now the service centres would dispose all cases of building plan approval within 60 days as per the Odisha Right to Public Services Act 2012.