Shylla wants scheduled areas out of town planning act

SHILLONG: KHADC chief executive member HS Shylla has asked the state government to denotify a 1989 directive to bring autonomous areas under the purview of the town planning act.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Shylla said, “All along there were discussions on the Meghalaya Town Country Planning Act, 1973, which states that the act will be extended to the whole of Meghalaya, excluding the autonomous district council.”
“We had demanded that the state government should denotify the January 13, 1989, notification to extend the act to the autonomous areas,” he added.
The CEM referred to the notification by the Urban Affairs Department dated February 1 that states that the public desirous for applying building permission in the areas outside municipal limits may approach either MUDA for municipal areas/scheme areas or the autonomous district councils for areas excluding municipal areas/scheme areas for obtaining sanction of building permission, occupancy certificates etc.
The Cabinet recently allowed the district councils to grant building permission in non-municipal areas but had added they should implement the MUDA building bylaws in scheduled areas.
Shylla had expressed his displeasure over the decision saying, “We have our own building bye-laws. The state government should step out of the autonomous areas.”
Meanwhile, Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling spoke to reporters during the day and said, “We want the building bylaws to be uniform, we don’t want the bylaws to be different in Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills.”
The KHADC and the JHADC have submitted their building bylaws to the government while the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council is yet to do so.
“We cannot wait when Garo Hills will submit,” said the minister.
He added that there was a meeting with all the CEMs and the Synjuk ki Nongsynshar Shnong ka Bri U Hynniewtrep where it was decided that the three councils should submit their building bylaws to the government.