Odisha govt cracks whip on real estate irregularities in Twin City; approach road plan approvals under scrutiny

The Odisha government has ordered a sweeping review of permissions granted for approach roads to real estate projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack over the last five years, marking a sweeping review of dozens of housing ventures across the Twin City.

According to The New Indian Express, the move comes after a major controversy in which a project, whose developer allegedly cited railway land as an access route, led to the cancellation of the project's registration and put homebuyers’ investments at risk.

The Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department thereby directed all planning authorities, including the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Development Authority (CDA), and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), to submit detailed records on the projects they have approved.

The details sought include the building plan approvals, names of the planning officers involved, land schedules, specifications of access roads, and no objection certificates (NOCs) obtained for using land that is not part of the project, stated the reports.

It also reiterated that the use of private, Scheduled Caste (SC), or Scheduled Tribe (ST) land as approach roads must be backed by a registered deed of conveyance prior to any approval.

Registration Revoked for Violating Norms

The urgency of the crackdown stems from a recent case involving the project ‘HN Courtyard’ in Gadakana, where the Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) revoked the project's registration after discovering that its approach road was on railway land.

Last year, the Directorate of Estates had even sought clarifications from both BDA and BMC for allegedly facilitating such access routes without prior clearance from the General Administration (GA) department and collecting security deposits in the process.

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ORERA to Be Strengthened for Better Oversight

Earlier this month, the Housing and Urban Development department issued a new directive mandating all planning authorities, including the BMC, to inform ORERA whenever they approve housing or plotting projects.

In response, ORERA’s chairperson submitted an eight-point recommendation to the chief secretary, highlighting gaps in the monitoring process.

One of the key suggestions was for planning bodies to routinely notify ORERA of project approvals, enabling the authority to track the developers' activities post-approval. The Chief Secretary subsequently held a high-level meeting with officials from the housing department and issued directions accordingly.