by Ar. Abhishek Dutta
NKDA (New Town Kolkata Development Authority, formerly WBHIDCO) has a procedure of online sanction of building plans to save the time and harassment of the plot owners (individuals, cooperative societies, companies) of New Town, Kolkata. Although it is an appreciable effort, still from a technological perspective it’s yet to be simple and convenient. The process is complex and needs the expertise of highly trained and experienced technical staff in architect’s office. However, definitely the process is much better compared to the offline building plan sanction procedure of KMC or other counterparts.
Now it is important from a owners perspective to know the process of the sanctioning.
Firstly, one must select an enlisted architect from NKDA website (Most importantly, not on the basis of lowest quotation for this as typically an architect’s fees are between 1%-4% of the construction cost depending on size, complexity and scope of services, which is anyway negligible compared to other expanses. But if one gets proper advice from an experienced and knowledgeable architect, he shall definitely add much more value and save one from unnecessary wastage of time and money during construction, much more than his fees. Therefore, saving Rs.2/- or 3/- for compromising on experienced and ethical architect of one’s choice may prove to be ‘penny wise, pound foolish’-ness )
Next, the Owner must produce Deed and Possession Letter. The architect will advice the client to get a Soil Test done for required depth and number (again select a good, trustworthy Soil Investigation agency, not the one with lower bid. This typically costs between 15-20 thousand rupees.)
After this the online process starts.
1. Enrollment of the Applicant/Owner and his authorized Technical Persons (Architect, Engineer et. al.) by filling up proper form. (Owner shall apply for Digital Signature Certificate or DSC at this stage)
2. Selection of already enrolled/NKDA authorized Architect and other Technical person by Applicant login. [ Meanwhile the architect designs the concept designs and after approval of the same by the client he/she prepares and coordinates all relevant technical documents and drawings for sanctioning including the Structural Calculation and design drawing by Structural Engineer (based on the Soil test Report by the Geo-technical Engineer) ]
3. Applying color code on architectural drawings according to OPS Color Code Instruction.
4. Applicant or technical persons need to submit the Drawings and NOCs from FIRE PREVENTION AUTHORITY (if required) to NKDA Office.
5. By Technical login the Architect and all other engaged Technical person in the plan case needs to provide required details of the plan, run and submit the Color coded drawing using OPS-Software (only for architect login) and finally upload the digitally signed drawings (applicable for AutoCAD drawing files only) along with the entire required document to complete the submission.
6. Once all the above process is done and all the document found proper, a Demand Notice will generate and send to the applicant enroll time provided email id.
7. After receiving the payment slip from the concern bank the ‘Issuance of the sanction of building’ (Building Permit) generate and digitally signed softcopy of that sent to the applicant (and an acknowledgement mail to the architect) by mail.
8. Applicant can collect the hard copy of Sanctioned Plan from NKDA office after certain days of ‘Issuance of the sanction of Building’, After the Technical Personels physically signs on the hard copies provided by NKDA at NKDA office. And Building Plan is “sanctioned’ for Next Stage of the Project. (Although, other NoC and/or sanctions from Water Supply, Public Health, Fire & Emergency Services, Airport Authority, Microwaves etc. may be required on case to case basis)
For Enquiry related to this one can directly contact
NKDA, 03-MAR, New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata – 700156; Ph. No. (Enquiry) 1800-345-1571 (033-27062301)
Or, alternatively, may also feel free to contact the author for any other help or guidance.
About the author: The author is one of the leading architects working in New Town, Kolkata. He is one of the Founder Partners of ArcOn Design, an award winning architectural Firm of the City. AD, has been awarded National Award by NIASA, Council of Architecture, INDIA and a Gold Medal for Best Thesis from Jadavpur University. His works has been featured in NDTV Goodtimes‘ “Next Big Thing” TV Programme. AD, a former Senior Research Fellow for DRDO and Visiting Lecturer in Architecture at many Polytechnics and Degree colleges of Architecture in the country, is a noted expert on Sustainable and Environment Friendly Architecture. He can be reached at +91 9748325700 or through e-mail – arcondesign@gmail.com
[Other Blogs by the author
1. Tips for Contractor Selection at NKDA area
2. Construction Contracts : Problems for Plot Owners at New Town, Kolkata ]
ArcOn Design's blog for you 
Thanks for the informative blog , but currently 2 of the residential building (G+4) in new town AA-1 has tilted and NKDA asked the flat owners to vacate the flat. This project must have passed after doing the soil test and based upon it would have been decided whether piling is required or not.
I am a potential buyer of flat in new town cooperative or in Independent plot ( both G+4) . But being a naive , kindly guide me whether to go for such project or not where piling is not done.
On suggest how to approach for such projects (G+4) in new town where piling is not done.
Thanks
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Dear Mr. Chandan,
Sorry for the delay in response. But I hope I am not too late.
I am aware of many such cases where the building has tilted as you have observed. In many cases the cooperatives opt for the cheapest consultants and contractors paying them peanuts and thus in many cases the cheapest options prove costly in all other aspect. But there are a few cases where even the structural design was perfectly ok until there was some activity in the neighbouring plots which might move the soil beneath the shallow foundation of the project in purview.
It is impossible from a distance to pin point the flaws in design or execution or any other unforeseen conditions for such unfortunate situation. Who will not only design it adequately yet economically but also ensure proper execution by through supervision and inspections.
Thus chances of such bad situation can be reduced by following right approach.
Please feel free to call my personal no for any further clarification.
Best Wishes,
Abhishek Dutta
For your own project, do not worry. there are a lot of Good and sincere architects, Structural Engineers and consultants who loves their job and are unbiasedly passionate about what they do.
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