Report of the State-level Committee to
recommend a policy framework for the Chandigarh Periphery Controlled
Area and regulating constructions therein.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
The Chandigarh Periphery Controlled area was created with the twin objectives
of ensuring a planned future expansion of the New Capital City and to
prevent mushrooming of unplanned construction around it. The Punjab
New Capital (Periphery) Control act, 1952 accordingly aimed at regulating
the use of land and preventing unauthorized and unplanned urbanization
in a 16 kilometre periphery.
1.2
Since then, planned satellite townships of SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Panchkula
have come up in the Periphery in addition to a large cantonment. Further
in 1990, the State Government declared an area of 10,000 Acres near
Dera Bassi, falling within 23 villages of Patiala district, to be a
Free Enterprise Zone (FEZ), where the setting up of industries was to
be permitted.
1.3 Notwithstanding the regulatory
framework, enforcement has been patchy. Appreciating the emerging ground
realities, the Punjab Government had in 1998 decided to permit an across-the-board
regularization of all unauthorized constructions, which had already come up within the Periphery up to and including 7.12.1998.
Simultaneously, it was also decided to evolve a policy framework which
would permit the setting up of institutions related to education, health
etc., with low density of built-up area, within the Periphery, apart
from permitting activities related to leisure and tourism.
2. THE
COMMITTEE
2.1 Accordingly, a
Committee headed by the Chief Secretary was constituted by the State
Government in its order of September 10, 2003 to suggest an appropriate
and transparent policy framework for the Periphery.
2.2
Taking cognizance of this Committee, the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana
High Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 14357 of 2002 directed:
(i) that the Committee should critically examine
the problems and bottlenecks in the proper development of Periphery
and to suggest a policy framework which would ensure planned development
of the area;
(ii) that the issue of regularization of unauthorised
constructions which have already come up in Periphery should also be
examined by this Committee;
(iii) that on the basis of the recommendations
made by the Committee the State Government shall take a decision whether
or not to regularize such constructions;
(iv) that the State Government shall also examine
the reasons for the coming up of unauthorized constructions, rationale
for their regularizing and steps to stop such construction in future
including imposition of exemplary fine and setting up of Special Courts
to deal with such illegal constructions;
(v) to fix responsibility of the officers/employees
responsible for abetting such constructions and setting up a Tribunal
headed by a retired Judge of the High Court to deal with the cases of
illegal constructions.
2.3
Further, in Civil Writ Petition No. 7187 of 2003 the Hon’ble Punjab
and Haryana High Court has also sought the views of the State of Punjab
about extending the abadi deh area/lal lakir of the villages
in Periphery, and this issue was also referred to the Committee.
3.
THE DELIBERATIONS – BROAD POLICY FRAMEWORK
3.1
The Committee held numerous meetings and also formally obtained the
comments of relevant Departments of the Government such as Revenue,
Industries, Housing and Urban Development and Local Government. Views
of the public at large were also sought through placement of advertisements
in news papers to which there was considerable response.
3.2
At the outset the Committee observed that it was first necessary to
take into account the changing character of the city of Chandigarh.
It was seen in this context that the city was initially conceived as
the capital of post partition Punjab and its planning by and large reflected
the needs thereof. Over time, however, Chandigarh is not only the administrative
capital of two State Governments and a Union Territory but also an important
commercial and institutional hub which houses the regional offices of
Companies and Institutions catering to several States in the northern
region. It has also become an important investment destination for Indian
and multinational Companies. The changed character of the city has put
considerable pressure on housing and social infrastructure, which was
not initially catered for. There is also increased need for connectivity
and the provision of civic amenities. A special mention needs to be
made of a large population of the city, which is unable to afford housing
on account of its very high cost and has gravitated into the villages
in the immediate vicinity of the city as well as several unplanned and
unauthorized new colonies. It is in this backdrop that a fresh look
has to be taken of the regulatory framework that governs the areas immediately
surrounding the city of Chandigarh so that the future needs of the city
can be adequately catered for in a planned manner.
3.3
It is also necessary to take note of the fact that even with all difficulties
being faced, Chandigarh is still one of the more liveable cities in
the northern region. With its close proximity and easy connectivity
to the national capital, it has also become an attractive investment
destination. It would, in the view of the Committee, not be realistic
for any State Government not to take advantage of this opportunity and
leverage its proximity to Chandigarh to its best economic interest.
Thus, industrial promotion in the vicinity of Chandigarh has also to
be envisaged and provided for.
3.4
In the light of the issues brought out in the foregoing paragraphs,
the broad policy framework within which the Committee approached the
entire issue of controlling the periphery of Chandigarh are enumerated
below:-
a)
Housing for the increasing population of the city is perhaps the most
urgent requirement that has to be provided for. In that context, a realistic
view has to be taken of existing unauthorized structures. Policy also
needs to cater for the normal growth of village populations as well
as migration from outside specially of persons from economically weaker
sections.
b)
It is necessary also to take into account the increased attraction of
the city and its environment as in investment destination.
c)
Catering for further growth would involve heavy investment in road connectivity,
provision of civic amenities, electricity, water supply and sewerage.
Accordingly, it was considered desirable that the overall policy framework
should also generate adequate resources for the provision of such facilities.
A multidisciplinary sub group was asked to advise on the imposition
of such charges after studying the existing pattern in neighbouring
State of Haryana.
d)
The Committee noted the wide disparity between the level of civic and
urban infrastructure in the city and its surrounding towns and villages.
Accordingly, the available resources needed to be suitably deployed
to ensure balanced growth. Such resources, it was felt, could also be
raised and credited towards a dedicated fund which could be used for
developing and upgrading basic infrastructure in the periphery area
and specially for the settlements therein.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
Given
the above approach and considering the ground realities, existing status
of the Periphery, emerging problems of unregulated and unauthorised
development, need for promoting planned development and eliminating
unauthorised and illegal constructions, the Committee, proposes to address
various issues on the following lines:-
(a)
Periphery Controlled Area Plan
In
order to meet the emerging needs of population growth, promote planned
and systematic development of the entire area and to check haphazard,
unregulated and unplanned development, the Committee suggests the preparation
of a comprehensive Land Use Plan for the entire Periphery Controlled Area. Such a broad land use plan
could provide for urbanisable zones, industrial parks, institutional
and residential areas where such development could be taken up while
also highlighting the trunk services and infrastructure to support such
development. It should also highlight the sub-areas which need to be
preserved and conserved in order to effectively protect the quality
of environment and ecology in the Periphery. However, until such a Plan
becomes final in statutory terms, change of land use may be permitted
as in interim measure, by the State Government in accordance with other
specific recommendations of this Committee. This plan needs to be put
in place in the shortest possible time frame as that would then provide
the framework for future growth based on well established principles
of town and area planning. To implement a plan of this magnitude, it
would be advisable to consider setting up of an independent Statutory
Authority with a dedicated initial corpus and full administrative, financial
and planning autonomy.
(b)
Housing Schemes in the Periphery
With
only limited planned urban areas available in the cities of Chandigarh,
SAS Nagar and Panchkula and the growing demand for housing, it was noted
that those who could not afford shelter in these urban areas, found
place on the fringes of the city, usually in the adjoining settlements/villages,
inside or outside the Abadi areas in an unauthorized manner. Considering
the above situation, it is proposed that suitable pockets for Housing/Residential
use in the Periphery area be earmarked which can be developed by the
Private parties or Government/Semi-Government Agencies. While permitting
such development, it must be ensured that adequate provisions are made
for public utilities/facilities and services. Special care must be taken
to ensure that housing needs of the economically weaker sections are
catered for in adequate measure. Detailed policy prescriptions in this
respect are at Annexure
‘A’.
(c)
Unauthorized Constructions
The Hon’ble High Court in its orders in CWP No. 14357
of 2002 had tasked the Committee to examine the issue of regularization
of unauthorized constructions and also desired it to examine the need
to set up a Tribunal to deal with cases of illegal constructions, besides
suggesting imposition of exemplary fines to stop such constructions
in future. The issue relating to unauthorized constructions were discussed
in detail. In the absence of any detailed formal survey, a broad figure
of about 1500 constructions was estimated based on the number of notices
issued by PUDA’s Regulatory Wing since 8.12.1998, the date till which
all the previous constructions had been regularized. With
a view to preventing large-scale demolitions and consequential human
problems, the Committee recommends a strictly
one time regularisation of unauthorised constructions, adopting, however,
a well defined and selective approach restricting it only to small/medium
residential and petty commercial constructions.
The
Committee recommends that such regularization, with a cut-off date should
involve the imposition of reasonable composition fees and land-use conversion
“charges” on a pre-defined scale, which may be pegged at a lower rates
for smaller plots. Large residential units could be considered for regularisation
in accordance with the policy proposed for farmhouses. Alternatively,
such units could be regularized on imposition of substantively higher
composition fee. No regularization would be allowed in any case where
the construction interferes with the provision of trunk infrastructure.
However, no such regularization should be permitted in areas prohibited
for development by virtue of being covered under the Indian Forest Act,
1927, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 or the Punjab Land Preservation
Act, 1900 or in areas where construction is not permitted under any
other law. To avoid any misuse of such regularisation, the committee
proposes to fix the cut off date with slight retrospective effect like
1st November, 2005.
The
Committee feels that the problem of unauthorized constructions needs
to be addressed by constant and effective vigil, for which the field
officers like Sub Divisional Magistrates and their staff besides PUDA
officers need to be fully involved and held accountable. Clear
administrative guidelines need to be put in place bringing out the staff
who is to be responsible for detecting illegal construction, taking
legal action and enforcing the same. Statutory powers of the Deputy
Commissioner under the Periphery Act to carry out demolitions could
also be delegated to designated officers (e.g. SDMs).
A dedicated field enforcement machinery within PUDA or in the Department
of Town and Country Planning also needs to be created so that the demolition
orders are implemented in letter and spirit and, more importantly, mushrooming
of illegal constructions is nipped in the bud. Suitable amendments in
the Act may also be made to vest the Deputy Commissioners with statutory
powers to issue injunctions against unauthorized construction, in addition
to the existing powers to demolish such constructions. It is further
suggested that the Act be amended so as to provide a fine which may
extend up to Rs.50,000/- instead of Rs.5,000/- presently and in case
of continued violation, with a fine of Rs.5,000/- per day instead of
the present rate of Rs.500/-. Regular monitoring of progress in respect
of tackling unauthorized construction cannot be overemphasised. It is
felt that at least a quarterly review needs to be undertaken at Government
level.
The
Committee is of the view that in case the proposals in the above paragraph
are operationalized, there may not be any necessity to set up the Special
Tribunal to deal with cases of unauthorized construction. However, the
credibility of a sustained campaign in this respect would depend critically
on the fairness of the process. Towards that end, the setting up of
an Ombudsman could be thought of who would oversee the entire process,
entertain complaints from citizens and is empowered to give directions
to the concerned authorities. The Ombudsman would have to be vested
with suitable powers but care needs, at the same time, to ensure that
there is no intervention in matter relating to the hearing of cases
and the execution of orders passed by the Competent Authority.
(d)
Institutions
Considering
the fact that Chandigarh and SAS Nagar are emerging as fast-developing
nodes, it is natural that institutions with larger land requirements
would tend to get located here. In addition, the area is becoming ripe
for establishing sports, recreation, leisure and tourism-related activities.
The Committee feels that such institutions and activities, which have
requirement of large open/vacant land area but smaller built-up area,
can be considered for location within the entire Periphery. Accordingly,
it would be appropriate to consider the option of locating such activities
within the Periphery, subject to detailed guidelines, land and development
norms being put in place, which are brought out in the detailed guidelines
placed at Annexure-B.
(e) Free Enterprise Zone
(i) Free Enterprise Zone:
The
area declared as Free Enterprise Zone (FEZ) near Dera Bassi should continue
to be used for industries, although institutions could also be permitted
in accordance with the prescribed guidelines. In order to ensure rational
development and provision of basic infrastructure and services in the
area, a broad developmental framework needs to be prepared along with
a development plan indicating roads/trunk infrastructure, including
areas reserved for residential and institutional needs. There shall
be no conversion/betterment charge for the new industrial units coming
up in the FEZ. However, these shall be liable to pay the External Development
Charges.
(ii)
Industrial
Industrial
Parks may also be permitted as “mega projects” in areas earmarked as
industrial & residential for such uses respectively within the Outline
Master Plan area of SAS Nagar (Mohali).
The Empowered Committee on Mega Projects has already
permitted integrated mixed use Industrial Parks, where at least 60%
of the land is used for industry, free of external development charges
and change of land use charges in the periphery. This is a major policy
incentive for making land available to industry at reasonable rates.
In the Committee’s opinion such a policy may continue in respect of
the industrial sectors in the Mohali sectoral grid and FEZ for general
industry and
for areas planned in Mohali’s Master Plan for IT Industry. The policy
on grant of additional incentives to industry would, however, need to
be periodically reviewed with a view to the continuation of such benefits.
(f) Municipal Towns in Periphery
Committee
recommends that the existing towns of Kharar, Banur, Zirakpur, Dera
Bassi should continue to provide avenues for future growth and development
by ensuring adequate supply of developed land for residential, commercial,
institutional and industrial purposes. Master Plans of these Towns need
to be prepared under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning & Development
Act, 1995, within the overall ambit of the Controlled Area Plan.
Further expansion in the municipal limit of these towns has also to
be regulated so that it conforms to the overall Development Plan for
the Periphery Area. It is proposed that the future expansion of municipal
limits of the existing Periphery towns should be frozen, until these
Master Plans have been finally notified. Thereafter, if need arises,
such expansion can be considered, strictly in accordance with the approved
Master Plan subject, of course, to the payment of the conversion charges
as are being proposed in the report. New Municipal Councils or Nagar
Panchayats within the Periphery should be notified only after the overall
Development Plan has been put in place.
(g)
Existing Rural Settlements
Considering the existing as well as future development needs of the
villages falling within the Periphery as well as with a view to cater
to their increasing population, it would be prudent to provide a sufficiently
compact and contiguous belt of land around the village “phirni”
for ensuring the organic growth of these villages. Any area falling
between the ‘lal lakir’ and the ‘phirni’ of the village
shall also be treated as a part of the extended belt. The area should
be allowed to be used primarily for meeting individual residential and
petty commercial needs of the existing and future population of a village.
However, charges for change of land use should be levied on prescribed
rates, except in the case of bonafide residents. No industry should
be permitted in such area. Similarly, formal colonization shall also
not be permitted in the extended ‘abadi’ area on the pretext
of this recommendation alone.
With these caveats, the Committee proposes to allow the village
“Abadi” area extension by 60%, subject to a minimum of 50 metres
and maximum of 100 metres in radial length from the ‘phirni’.
However, where the exiting Abadi Deh or a part thereof is an
area which forms a part of the rural/agriculture and afforestation zone
of the Outline Master Plan/Draft Comprehensive Master Plan/Comprehensive
Master Plan prepared under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning &
Development Act, 1995, the extent of such area shall be limited to 50
metres. Permitting construction in the notified forest areas falling
in these villages would, of course, be subject to due approval as regards
change of land use. No permission should, however, be granted in any
area which falls within the sectoral grid of SAS Nagar (Mohali), as
reflected in the Outline Master Plan. The extent of area where such
constructions are to be permitted will be demarcated and certified for
each village falling within the Periphery by the Revenue Authorities,
subject to the final approval of PUDA. In order to promote planned development,
it is proposed that construction in the area should be regulated by
a set of simple building norms, subject to payment of Land-Use conversion
charges and in accordance with other details as contained in Annexure-C.
However, to avoid hardship to villagers and land owners, the area in
the extended abadi deh shall
be exempted from the provisions of the Punjab Apartment and Property
Regulation Act, 1995.
(h)
Farmhouses
With a view to encouraging low-density development and
to meet the basic residential demand of landowners in the area, Farmhouses
were permitted as far back as 1966. However, they could come up
only beyond the 8-kilometre belt, in cases where land holding was more
than 5 acres. Keeping in view the high land values, it would be
appropriate that the norms for Farmhouses are liberalised, with the
area requirements brought down to 2.5 acres and construction being permitted
within the 8 kilometre belt as well. However, the construction of Farmhouses
should be regulated by guidelines as per Annexure-B.
(i)
Land-use Conversion Charge – Periphery Development Fund
As
has been earlier observed, any optimal development of the Periphery
has necessarily to be accompanied by considerable state-led investment
in urban infrastructure. Similarly, the existing urban and rural settlements
must also become beneficiaries in any resource-raising that might be
leveraged through a system of granting land-use change permissions.
It would be neither fair nor just to burden the State exchequer alone
with the responsibility of funding such development works, without any
concomitant additional resource mobilization. On the other hand, ignoring
this aspect at the policy formulation stage would result in irretrievably
losing the best opportunity for providing supporting infrastructure
at optimal cost.
In
view of this, the Committee suggests that conversion of land use and
betterment charge should be imposed if need be through an amendment
of the Periphery Act. The Committee recommends that there should be
an in-built betterment charge applicable to lands abutting the road
network within the conversion charge itself. This is fully justifiable
because of the initial investment by the Government in the form of land
acquisition and construction of National / State highways, Sector roads
and other roads. Betterment charge could be in the form of a percentage
premium over and above the conversion charge. These “charges” should
be credited to the Government treasury and should be dedicated to the
provisions and maintenance of physical infrastructure in the periphery.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development in consultation with
the Finance Department, may work out the administrative and legal details
to manage this Fund. However, the model adopted by the State Government
for regular release of Social Security pensions may serve as a useful
prototype to ensure that receipts on account of this charge are released
in the ordinary course of business to the nodal agency. The Governing
Body of this Fund should be a high level body, headed preferably by
the Chief Minister, and in addition to Ministers and the Administrative
Secretaries concerned, may also have representation of the elected representatives
like MLAs, Presidents of the Municipal Bodies and Panches/Sarpanches
whose territorial jurisdiction falls within the Periphery. While the
Governing Body would, no doubt, be in the best position to settle competing
demands for resources, it is suggested that the first charge on this
Fund should be the basic development works in the village from which
revenue receipts arise. The imposition of a fair and optimal level of
conversion charge is crucial to the success of this policy package which
must be adequate to generate enough funds to finance creation of new
roads and other physical and social infrastructure in the periphery
area.
The
multidisciplinary group has worked out the details of External Development
Charges based on basic infrastructure requirements (Annexure
D-II) which need to be put in place to provide facilities
broadly comparable to Chandigarh. The scale of conversion charge is
similar to the one being levied by Haryana Government in the satellite
town of Panchkula. The Committee generally agrees with the scale of
these charges including the licence fee proposed by the sub group
(Annexure
D-I) as it provides a reasonable competitive edge to
Mohali compared to the charges being levied in Panchkula (Annexure D-III). It is also worth mentioning that
while suggesting the different charges, the differential between the
permissible FARs between Mohali and Panchkula has been duly taken care
of.
These
charges are proposed for the outline Master Plan of Mohali and can be
suitably adjusted for remaining areas of the Periphery. Such charges
would, however, not be imposed when land is provided for public utilities
and other services such as Government Schools, Dispensaries, Veterinary
Centres, Post Offices, Police Stations and the like. The aforesaid conversion
charges and other fees should be in addition to, and not in substitution
of, the External Development Charges (EDC) that are payable within the
framework of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995.
(j) Total Repeal of the Periphery Act Not Recommended:
The
Committee has received suggestions from different quarters to totally
repeal the Periphery Act. In this context, attention is drawn to the
changing character of the city of Chandigarh, alluded to in paragraph
3.2 of this report. This transition also necessitates a fresh look at
the regulatory framework governing the Periphery. However, the Committee,
even after due deliberation, is unable to recommend the total repeal
of the Act, as it would remove all curbs on sub optimal construction
and haphazard urban development in the Periphery.
The
Committee noted that the process of drawing up Master Plans in the State
as a whole has yet to effectively take off and towards that end, the
State Government is contemplating to amend the Town and Country Planning
Act with a view to permitting quick finalization of such Plans. However,
it will be several years before Master Plans would be in place and till
then, it is necessary to have a legal framework effective in the Periphery
of Chandigarh, which is currently provided by this Act. It would, therefore,
be inadvisable to remove the legal umbrella, which is available to exercise
control over land use till such time as detailed planning is put in
place. The Committee has also separately suggested the imposition of
EDC and conversion charges in reasonable measure with a view to generating
resources for providing requisite infrastructure for urbanization which
will and is inevitably taking place. It would not be possible to levy
such charges if there is no umbrella legislation, which provides for
it and in the absence of the levy of such charges planned growth in
the Periphery area would not be possible. For all these reasons, the
Committee is of the view that it would be inadvisable to repeal The
Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952.
7.
CONCLUSION:
The Committee had to balance and optimise between divergent and often
conflicting demands and requirements. For instance, the purist
view of freezing the Periphery as agricultural was contradictory to
the very reasonable demand to allow for the expansion of the ‘abadi
dehs’ or for permitting housing in a planned manner. Similarly,
although institutions and leisure facilities have been recommended,
the norms of FAR and built-up area, have been pegged on the lower side.
Conversion charges were also deemed necessary to raise resources for
the overall development of the Periphery, although the Committee was
acutely conscious that it may add to overall project cost. While the
Committee recommends strict compliance with the up-to-date Outline Master
Plan of SAS Nagar, it also suggests the speedy formulation of an over-arching
Periphery Development Plan for the entire region. Nevertheless,
pending finalization of the latter, the Committee recommends that limited
change of land use may be permitted as per the recommendations contained
in this Report.
Even though existing constructions have been proposed to be regularised
on purely humanitarian grounds, the Committee has strongly recommended
a zero tolerance enforcement and regulatory regime, in the post-Policy
phase. However, enforcement of the regulatory regime would only be sustainable
in the long run if total Area Planning of the Periphery is taken up
in right earnest and brought to its logical conclusion at the earliest.
The prescription proposed by the Committee is to be viewed as a comprehensive
package, which needs to be comprehensively implemented. The Committee
sincerely hopes that it would have addressed the concerns of all the
stakeholders in a judicious, balanced and practical manner.
It is now for the State Government to consider, approve and implement
both the regulatory and development aspects of this policy in prescribed
time frames.
Chief Administrator, PUDA Secretary, Housing & Urban Dev.
(Member Secretary) (Member)
Secretary,
PWD (B&R) Principal Secretary,
Industries
(Member) (Member)
Principal Secretary, Local Govt. Financial Commissioner, Revenue
(Member) (Member)
Chief Secretary
(Chairman)
