Fearing construction curbs, locals protest bringing villages under TCP

Dharamsala, August 30

Hundreds of residents from villages around Dharamsala today protested against the inclusion of their areas in the Town and Country planning (TCP) Act. The government, in a notification issued on August 20, had included 117 more villages of Kangra district in the TCP Act. Twenty-two such villages fall in the Dharamsala Assembly constituency.

Holding placards, the protesters raised slogans against the government near the mini-secretariat and demanded the withdrawal of the notification. The villagers alleged that the inclusion of their areas under the TCP would spell trouble for them as they would have to get maps of any new construction approved from the Town and Country Planning Department, which was a cumbersome process.

The local BJP leaders also joined the protesters and alleged that the government was biased against Dharamsala due to which almost entire rural area in the constituency was now under the TCP Act.

Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani had justified the inclusion of 117 villages in Kangra under the TCP Act. He had said the villages had been included in the TCP Act as per the directions of the High Court. Besides the process for the inclusion of these areas was started during the previous BJP regime, the minister had claimed. He had also claimed that despite being brought under the TCP Act, the villages did not need any permission from the department for raising any construction up to 600 square feet.

He had said the rural areas had been brought under the TCP Act to regulate commercial constructions.