Haryana Govt To Regularise 450 Unauthorised Colonies: CM

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said the Haryana government has decided to regularise 450 unauthorised colonies situated beyond the municipal limits, which also fall under the purview of the town and country planning department.
     
Khattar said the 450 colonies that have been decided to be regularised include 239 falling under the jurisdiction of the town and country planning department and 211 of the urban local bodies department. 
     
He said that a cumulative of 1,135 unauthorised colonies will be regularised from the year 2014 till the date of this decision.
     
Sharing plans regarding more unauthorised colonies, the chief minister here said 1,856 unauthorised colonies are currently under consideration for regularisation, out of which 727 fall under the jurisdiction of the town and country planning department while 1,129 colonies are under the urban local department. 
     
Highlighting a disparity in the regularisation of unauthorised colonies between the BJP-led government and the previous regime in the state, Khattar said the Congress government during its 10-year tenure regularised a substantial 874 unauthorised colonies.
     
He said that the present government has, however, taken a different approach, focusing on citizen convenience by relaxing the norms in this regard.
     
“While focusing on citizen convenience and aiming to improve the living conditions of those residing in these colonies, we reduced the requirements for approach road and internal road widths for regularisation eligibility. Under the new norms, colonies with an approach road width of six metres or more, and internal roads width of three metres or more, are now eligible for regularisation,” Khattar said.
     
The chief minister said residents living in the unauthorised colonies beyond municipal limits have long been devoid of essential amenities and the government has while acknowledging these long pending difficulties, undertaken the task of regularising these colonies.
     
For the effective regularisation of unauthorised colonies falling under the jurisdiction of the town and country planning department, a dedicated committee has been constituted headed by the additional chief secretary of the said department, an official statement said. 
     
This committee has meticulously examined the infrastructure requirements for vital services and civic necessities in these colonies situated beyond the municipal zone. Subsequently, a series of recommendations have been put forth to address these issues and improve the living conditions of the affected population. 
     
"On the basis of these recommendations, we have decided to regularise isolated colonies having a minimum area of two acres. This move is anticipated to bring about a transformative change in the lives of the residents residing in these areas," Khattar said.
     
The chief minister said the member secretary (convener) of the district town planning committee in the concerned district is empowered to oversee the regularisation of colonies situated outside the municipal areas.