More Palampur areas under purview of Town & Country Planning

Palampur, August 26

The Himachal Pradesh government has brought 76 more revenue ‘mohals’ of the Palampur subdivision under the purview of the Town and Country Planning Act.

A notification to this effect was issued by the TCP Department Secretary on August 20. Rural areas from Palampur Dadh up to Maranda town will now come under the purview of the TCP Department. The main objective behind the move is to check the large-scale and unplanned construction activities in the foothills of the Dhauladhars, which fall under “Zone V” of the seismic activity. Many hotels, resorts and homestays have come up in the area over the years.

Official sources told The Tribune that the state government had taken the decision following the High Court’s last year directive that the entire state, including rural areas, must be treated as a ‘planning area’, where building norms are applicable. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department had sought the guidance of the TCP Department in framing the construction guidelines, which have now been finalised.

Though all 56 urban local bodies in the state are covered under 57 planning areas and 35 Special Area Development Authorities (SADA), several rural pockets are, of late, witnessing rapid construction activity — be it hotels, guest houses, real estate projects or educational institutions.

“The court had directed that we must bring all potential high-growth areas, adjacent to existing towns or popular tourist destinations, under the planning area so that the construction activity is undertaken as per the norms. As such, the Department has prepared development plans for many high-growth areas,” a TCP officer said.

In Palampur, rural areas like Gopalpur, Dadh, Nagri, Jia Bagora, Thkurdwara and Bhawarna are witnessing unregulated construction activity on a large-scale as these villages fall under gram panchayats.

Earlier, the efforts of the state government to bring many such areas under the planning area category have been met with stiff opposition by locals who fear that strict construction regulations will come into force after such a move.