THANE : In a step that could lift the curtain of secrecy surrounding the process of construction projects, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday inaugurated a web-based portal for issuing clearances for new building plans.

The software of the portal is designed to issue timebound clearances.The commencement certificates has been the preferred project of Thane municipal commissioner R A Rajeev , who faced criticism from members of the standing committee at the time he was introducing the domain to the CM. The domain, “tmc.tp”, will improve clarity by permitting proposals for building projects to be sanctioned online in a specified time-frame.

A member of Shiv Sena opposed the manner in which the civic chief chose to “ignore” the elected council. Designed by software professional Prashant Ugemuge, Nagpur based, the portal will give the commissioner daily updates on the status of each proposal and can question any delay by the subordinate officials . In the beginning, proposals would now be examined by a surveyor or an assistant director online who will then put his seal of approval.