Notification for new Shimla township at Jathia Devi issued

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, January 23

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department has created the Jathia Devi Planning Area by excluding 177 villages from the Shimla Planning Area.

Decongesting Shimla

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• The HIMUDA proposes to set up a mountain township at Jathia Devi to function as a satellite township to the state capital. The aim is to decongest Shimla by shifting some offices and creating housing societies
• HIMUDA has already acquired 35 hectares land and 100 hectares more is being acquired. The creation of the new planning area of Jathia Devi will ensure planned and regulated development as per the TCP norms

The notification issued by the TCP Department indicates that these 177 villages, falling in the Shimla and Shoghi Planning Areas in Shimla district and Kandaghat tehsil of Solan district, will be part of the new Jathia Devi Planning Area. Since the state government intends setting up a satellite township here, it was mandatory as per norms by the Union Ministry to declare the area as Planning Area.

“Consequent upon the exclusion of these revenue villages from Shoghi Special Area and Shimla Planning Area, the government, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub section (1) of section 13 of the Act, is pleased to constitute the new planning area namely Jathia Devi Planning Area by including 177 revenue villages,” the notification read. The Shimla airport is also located at Jathia Devi and the area is witnessing a lot of development activities.

The Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) proposes to set up a mountain township at Jathia Devi to function as a satellite township to the state capital. The aim is to decongest Shimla by shifting some offices and creating housing societies. HIMUDA has already acquired 35 hectares land and 100 hectares more is being acquired for the long pending project.

The 106 villages earlier falling under Shimla Planning Area, 21 villages falling under Shoghi Special Area and 50 villages which were part of Kandaghat tehsil in Solan district have been excluded from the Shimla Planning Area to create the new Jathai Devi Planning Area. This has been done under Section 66 and Section 13 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977. These areas had been included in the Shimla Planning areas in 2007 and 2000.

The creation of the new planning area of Jathia Devi will ensure planned and regulated development of the entire area as per the TCP norms. The area is located in the suburbs of the state capital and is as such witnessing a lot of construction activity which needs to be regulated as per construction norms.