An engineers’ association has demanded that the State government delegate more powers to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and other local bodies to improve services related to construction approvals for houses, layouts, and commercial buildings.

Addressing the media on Saturday, A. Balasubramani, State president of the CMDA and DTCP Registered Engineers Welfare Association, said registered engineers had requested the government to delegate powers to the Corporation to approve residential buildings with up to 50 dwelling units with a stilt-plus-five-floor or ground-plus-four-floor structure, up to 21 metres in height, and a floor area of 5,000 sq. m. Currently, the Chennai Corporation has the power to approve residential buildings with up to 16 dwelling units, with a stilt-plus-three-floor or ground-plus-two-floor structure, up to 14 metres in height.