GMC and GMDA for monthly hearing on building permission

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, August 30: The highest reward that God gives us for good work is the ability to do better work -- Elbert Hubbard. Taking cue from this quote, if one compares the sort of works done by Dispur in the past 14 years, especially by the agencies and departments that have much to do with the well-being of Guwahati, one can rate the works -- whether they are good or bad.

And now Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) is set to do some ‘good works’. Now on, the civic body of the capital city will take the pain of conducting monthly hearings on construction of buildings in areas falling under its jurisdiction -- mainly permission for constructions. The hearings, according to GMC sources, will be conducted on the fifth day of every month. If the fifth day of any month happens to be a holiday, the hearing of that particular day will be heard on the very next working day.

This is indeed a good job, if at all continued for the well-being of the people. People had to make quite a leap of faith to accept the civic body’s promise after it has let them down, be it in supply of potable water or garbage disposal, let along giving them a respite from waterlogging. Raisor Podulit Raisor Sarkar (RPRS) was a much-talked-about project which Dispur often boasted of. However, it a history in the state now.

Will the GMC continue the proposed hearing on permission for construction of buildings based on the need of the people?  According to GMC rules, an applicant should get the response from the civic body on the permission sought within 45 days of submitting his/her application. The ground reality, however, is that applications for construction of building are getting piled up in the office every day.

Meanwhile, the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will also conduct such hearings on the very first day of every month, sources in the GMC said.