Villagers oppose inclusion under TCP Act sans facilities

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 20

Village panchayats around Dharamsala have opposed their inclusion in the town and country planning area. At a meeting of Cabinet subcommittee member and minister for forest Govind Thakur here, all village pradhans opposed inclusion of their villages under the town and country planning department.

The Cabinet subcommittee was formed by government last year to take a decision on exclusion of rural areas from town and country planning ambit. The committee is headed by minister for IPH Mahinder Singh. Interestingly, minister for town and country planning Sarveen Chaudhary is not even a member of the subcommittee.

Village pradhans of Rakkar and Sukkar, who were invited to the meeting, said that villagers were facing problems even in carrying out repairs or addition or alteration even to their ancestral houses as it was difficult to get the maps approved from the Town and Country Planning Department. The villagers alleged that the urban development department was not giving any facilities to the rural areas but was just imposing taxes and rules on them. In case the villagers are provided facilities by the town and country planning department they would have no issues.

Govind Thakur while talking to newsmen said today’s meeting at Dharamsala, was part of a series of meetings being conducted by Cabinet subcommittee across the state to take suggestions from people who reside in rural areas but have to abide by town and country planning rules. The suggestion given by the people would be taken up with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and the Cabinet would take a final decision on the matter.

Sources here said that many areas located on the periphery of urban areas in Himachal have been included in town and country planning development maps and residents of the areas have to abide by town and country planning rules.

In other states Periphery Act was implemented in rural areas that lie adjoining major cities. In Himachal, however, the Town and Country Planning Act of the state was silent on periphery areas and there was no provision of periphery rules in the Act. However, the town and country planning department has developed plans for expansion of major towns and cities in Himachal and the construction activity in areas lying around the cities is governed as per development plans.

Sources told The Tribune that people face problems in getting maps approved from town and country planning department due to acute shortage of staff in the department. A single town planner was responsible for areas included under TCP Act in about three districts. There are gross violations of development plans in most areas of the state due to which the department and state government have been at the receiving end from the courts and the National Green Tribunal.

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