more-in The deadline for regularisation of unapproved plots and layouts may be extended, as a majority of the plot owners are yet to apply for the scheme. The deadline is May 3, 2018. Less than 5% of the plot owners in unapproved layouts have been able to apply for the scheme in the State, according to officials. “Just 1.05 lakh applications have been received in the area under the Directorate of Town and Country Planning. Over 20,000 applications have been submitted in the Chennai Metropolitan Area,” said an official. More than 17.23 lakh plots in the State have been purchased by people without approval from urban planning agencies such as the DTCP and the CMDA. At recent camps for regularisation organised by officials, residents have requested Members of Legislative Assembly in their constituencies to request more time for filing applications. Many of them, including a few Ministers, have already assured the residents that the government will extend the deadline, considering the challenges faced by the poor and the middleclass who have invested in the property. The process of regularisation was slow for the past few months owing to technical issues faced by officials including inadequate manpower. Only after senior bureaucrats such as Rajesh Lakhoni took over as the CMDA Member Secretary, work gained momentum in Chennai Metropolitan Area. According to sources, officials are planning to recommend at least three months extension of the deadline. However, a final decision is yet to be taken by the government. The State government had already simplified the process, relaxing various rules relating to the scheme, reducing development charges for the regularisation of the plots or layouts. Buyers who have registered plots in layouts formed in the Chennai Metropolitan Area between August 5, 1975 and October 20, 2016 will be eligible for regularisation. Those who have purchased plots in rural areas outside the Chennai Metropolitan Area can apply under the scheme if the layout is formed between November 29, 1972 and October 20, 2016. For urban local bodies outside the Chennai Metropolitan Area, buyers can benefit from the regularisation scheme if the individual plots are located in layouts formed between January 1, 1980 and October 20, 2016.

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