SHILLONG: KHADC chief executive member HS Shylla said on Thursday the MUDA Building Bye Laws are defective and the district council cannot implement them.
Shylla’s criticism comes a day after the Cabinet allowed district councils to grant building permission in non-municipal areas but maintained that the bylaws would be applicable.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the public meeting on Thursday, Shylla said the state government should allow the district council to implement its building bylaws instead of MUDA’s.
Terming the decision of the Cabinet as old wine in a new bottle, he told reporters, “What is the intention? People have been opposing the MUDA Building Bye-law. It incurs a lot of expenditure. We have to use the bylaws framed by the district council.It is all the same… the state government should not be too rigid with the rules.”
It may be mentioned that the Meghalaya Building Bye-Laws, 2011 is implemented by the state government through the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
People living in scheduled areas have expressed their resentment to the application of MUDA bylaws.
According to Shylla, the bylaws of the district council will not incur too much expenditure when people are trying to obtain building permission.
Speaking about non-application of MUDA bylaws in the scheduled areas, he argued that even municipal areas fall under the Sixth Schedule. Shylla contended that the district council is not having enough time as the code of conduct will be enforced on February 2, since it has to appoint officers who will look into the bylaws.
“The government has to issue special exemption wherein the district council can appoint officers, staff and engineers for the department which will implement the building bylaw,” he said, adding that the KHADC also has its own architect but will strengthen the department.
“But we will not compromise on earthquake proof measures which are very necessary.” The Cabinet decided to include all the master plan areas of the state as specified by the Urban Affairs Department but excluded the municipal areas.
