CHENNAI: Post Chennai floods, applications for new constructions in Chennai have dipped by more than 50 per cent. Registration of land and plots across Tamil Nadu has dwindled up to 30 per cent, admit official sources in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and local administration ministry. The trend has been disturbing since 2011, but December floods and the Assembly polls have now made registration a slump process. In 2011-12, a maximum of 35 lakh documents were registered and most of them were related to land registrations. Since 2013, registration numbers were hovering around 26 lakh mark and this year this could even go down eating into revenue earned by the state, a senior official who knows registration revenues told DC.
Pointing out that two months of model code of conduct to be followed by the state for local body polls and monsoon will again have an adverse effect on the registration department, he said. Granite and mining industry in Madurai and adjoining districts is also suspended due to a pending litigation in Madras high court and this will also again hit revenue earnings for the state, the official said.
According to Greater Chennai Corporation sources, north Chennai records the least applications for building approval. Usually, the admission per day will be 10 to 15 and now this number has reduced between 5 to 7 applications on an average. “In case of central and south Chennai, plan approvals related to special and multi-storeyed buildings per month would easily cross 100, but again this high end commercial sector is also facing a dip at the admission level”, a CMDA planner said hinting that June has been comparatively better when compared with the past six months. The number of applications are increasing, but the realty market is not what it was, the planner added.
“Most of my sites in CIT colony and Manimangalam were marooned during the December floods and floods have forced me to suspend plot sales as there are very little takers, admitted D. Vijayakumar, a small time realtor at Tambaram. Tambaram registrar's office use to be congested till last September, but now the footfall has gone down drastically in all registration offices in Kancheepuram district, he added. “It is not only the sale of flats has dipped. Even rentals in all flood-hit areas have stagnated”, said Arani Sreenivasan, a house broker in Choolai.
