Retention policies, not people, responsible for encroachments

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 21

Government officials who could have been in trouble for their failure to check unauthorised constructions can heave a sigh of relief as the state government in its reply sent to Governor Acharya Devvrat has said no individual can be held responsible for such violations. It stated that frequent amendments, retention policies and lack of awareness about construction norms led to the surge in such structures.

Devvrat had on December 31, 2016, written to the state government seeking clarification with regard to the pending Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (Amendment Bill), 2016, with him. It is in response to those queries that the government yesterday sent it’s the reply to the Raj Bhawan. Considering the issues raised by the Governor, especially with regard to action that the government was contemplating against the officials who failed to check the violation in the construction norms, the Department of Town and Country Planning had been in a quandary to find a way out so that the Governor was satisfied.

“We have sent the clarification sought by Devvrat and elaborated that the unauthorised constructions are a result of a number of reasons which include frequent amendments, a number of retention policies, changes in planning areas and lack of awareness about the building norms,” said Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Minister.

Aimed at regularising over 25,000 illegal structures in the state, it was on August 27, 2016, that the Vidhan Sabha had passed the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (Amendment Bill), 2016, and sent it to the Governor for his assent. The Bill will amend the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977, to facilitate the regularisation of unauthorised structures in the state.

Interestingly, the government has also taken defence in the plea that acute staff shortage ails the Town and Country Planning Department, which also affected the functioning. A number of steps taken by the government like sanctioning posts of various categories have been enlisted in the reply sent to the Governor. “Considering all these aspects, no individual at any level can be held responsible for the encroachments,” said a senior functionary.

With regard to regularisation of structures which have come up on government or private land, the department has made it clear that such buildings do not qualify for regularisation even after the amendments. As far as the issue of structural stability of the unauthorised structures raised by the Governor is concerned, the government has assured that the safety of structures which will be regularised will be ensured at every cost.