Bengaluru: Having faced delays in starting construction works in most of its urban local body (ULB) limits for nearly two months after the automated Land and Building Plan Approval System (Nirman 2.0) crashed, Karnataka is likely to get a relief. Municipal administration minister Rahim Khan said the system will be restored Friday.
The portal is used by 312 ULBs, including 13 municipal corporations but excluding the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which has a separate online system for the purpose.
There are 58 city municipal corporations (CMCs), 126 town municipal councils (TMCs) and 115 town panchayats (TPs) in the state. With new construction activity stalled, the Consulting Civil Engineers Association last week urged the state govt to resolve the technical issues at the earliest.
The association also demanded that the urban development department introduce a separate online system to issue approvals and permissions at the district level.
The disruption surfaced after the Karnataka State Data Centre (KSDC) temporarily restricted the access to the Nirman 2.0 software due to a glitch and cybersecurity concerns.
Khan told TOI that he had already held a couple of meetings with officials to resolve the issue.
"There were some problems in the Nirman 2.0 software, and officials have informed me that these have been fixed and services will resume from Friday," Khan said.
He added that any issues faced by the public would be addressed promptly. In a memorandum to the chief minister, the association stated that if the govt introduced district-wise Nirman 2.0 software, the traffic would be regulated to the portal, thereby ensuring that no technical issues would be encountered.
Suresh M Kiresura, former president of the association, said people preferred to start construction activities after Dec in the absence of rain, but the Nirman 2.0 issue started at the same time and halted construction activities.
"This not only affected the people who intended to build residential or commercial buildings but also construction labourers. So, the govt should speed up the issuance of necessary permissions," he said.
He added that the govt allowed people to apply offline for approvals as Nirman 2.0 was shut for two months.
However, the ULB officials accepted the applications and the necessary documents, but did not issue permissions.
Santosh Kumar RB is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India wit...
Read MoreSantosh Kumar RB is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India with over 19 years of journalistic experience. He spent more than a decade reporting on crime and has also covered civic issues and urban infrastructure. Currently, he focuses on politics and public policy, bringing depth and insight into his reporting.
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