Govt seeks Guv nod for pending TCP Bill

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 27

Town and Country Planning and Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma along-with the senior officers of the department today held a detailed meeting with Governor Acharya Devvrat on the pending HP Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The Bill was passed by the Vidhan Sabha during the monsoon session of the Assembly in August this year and is still awaiting approval from the Governor. Incidentally, the other Bills, including banning sale of single cigarette, passed on the same day, have been passed.

While discussing on the Bill, the Governor advised that keeping in view the fact that the state was earthquakes prone, it must be ensured that there were no illegal constructions in future in the state. He also stressed for structural audit of those multi-storied buildings which were unsafe. He said that the orders passed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court from time to time regarding regularization of illegal constructions should be strictly adhered to.

Sharma apprised the Governor that Town and Country Planning Department was not flouting the High Court orders. He said the High Court had asked for bringing retention policy whereas the department had presented a Bill for regularizing deviations through the HP Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, which would be applicable for one year only.

He said this amendment had been brought only after proper perusal by the Law Department of the state government on the orders of the Supreme Court on a similar Bill of the Tamil Nadu government and also according to the orders of the HP High Court.

“Such buildings will not be regularized which are structurally unsafe or have been constructed on government or other land. The department will ensure proper structural audit of all the cases coming up for regularization for which the department has already started to register structural engineers and concerned agencies”, said the minister.

He also assured the Governor that no illegal constructions would be allowed in future as the department had made provision for online application, online tracking and providing no objection certificates for water and electricity connections.

The Governor assured that a decision would soon be made on H.P. Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Additional Chief Secretary Manish Nanda, Director, TCP Sandeep Kumar and other senior officers, accompanied the minister.