Land Pooling Policy: Chandigarh administration to study different models

Chandigarh, December 5

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For the development of villages, the UT Administration will study models of other states on land pooling policy.

During a meeting, a presentation on the land pooling policy of Maharashtra and other states was given before UT Adviser Dharam Pal.

Given the constrained Chandigarh has, the Adviser said he had asked the officers to study the model that could be tried in the city or the best practices of other models could be implemented in the city. Contrary to the states, as there was not much vacant land available in Chandigarh, he said they also could not deviate from the Master Plan.

The land pooling policy was aimed at bringing the development of city’s villages on par with developed sectors, also mandated by the Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031.

Under the policy, land owners will have to pool their land and the Administration will consolidate it, design the layout and develop the infrastructure. Any land pocket could be developed for new residential, commercial or institutional projects with unified planning and servicing.

Cost recovery for the Administration would be from the sale of some of the plots and the remaining plots could be distributed among the landowners to develop or sell for development.

To formulate a land pooling and aggregation policy, the Administration had even roped in the Indian Institute of Human Settlement (IISH), Bengaluru, and explored the possibility of introducing land pooling in a limited area as a pilot project.

The Administration had also studied the policies of Punjab and Haryana. However, both states have large pieces of vacant land available for pooling, but villages in Chandigarh lacked it. Haphazard constructions and encroachments in villages could pose a challenge in the formulation of the policy. Constructions, which are mostly illegal, will have to be demolished for the policy to have any practical impact. — TNS

Aim to develop villages

The land pooling policy was aimed at bringing the development of city’s villages on par with developed sectors, also mandated by the Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031.