Highways NOC Guidelines for CMDA Single Window Planning Applications

What the letter governs

The Highways Department letter applies to planning permission applications received by the Member Secretary of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority through the Single Window Approval System when a Highways Department no objection certificate is required. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority must forward each application to the Divisional Engineer (Highways), Construction and Maintenance, having jurisdiction over the location.

The guidance may affect owners and developers proposing buildings on land next to State Highways, Major District Roads or Other District Roads within the relevant Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority approval process.

Scrutiny fee and processing time

The Highways Department letter specifies the following administrative requirements:

• A non-refundable scrutiny fee of Rs.10,000 must be credited to the appropriate account of the Divisional Engineer.
• The stated timeline for issuing the no objection certificate is 15 days.
• User credentials are required for the Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur Divisions, with one additional credential for the Chennai Circle.

Road access requirements

The Highways Department guidelines set access conditions based on the road next to the proposed building:

• Where the road has a carriageway width of four lanes or more, the building must be accessed only through a service road or slip road.
• Where an existing road has two lanes, the building must be accessed only through an acceleration and deceleration lane.
• These facilities must be constructed within the available Highways Department right of way.
• If adequate road width is unavailable, the property owner must provide or acquire the additional land at their own cost and deposit the required road construction cost. This also applies to service roads where required.

Building line and future widening

The Highways Department must consider future road widening before granting a no objection certificate. If widening is proposed, the applicant must be informed and must position the building line to accommodate it.

The minimum distance between the road boundary, identified as the right of way, and the proposed building line is:

• State Highways, 5 metres in urban areas and 6 metres in non-urban areas.
• Major District Roads, 5 metres in urban and non-urban areas.
• Other District Roads, 5 metres in urban and non-urban areas.

Nodal officer

The identified nodal officer is the Deputy Superintending Engineer (Highways), Construction and Maintenance, at No. 299, Anna Salai, Ellaiamman Colony, Teynampet, Chennai 600006. The listed telephone number is 044-24342377 and the email address is [email protected].