SHILLONG: Executive Member of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Paul Lyngdoh informed that the KHADC will approach the state government to recognize the District Council as an implementing authority of Building Bye-laws under the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act 1973.
Referring to the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act 1973 and amended in 2004, he told reporters that the Executive Committee of the KHADC observed that the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be one of the authorities empowered by the law in relation to issuing of building permission.
He said that the Council have taken this up as per the Para 3 (e) and 3 (f) of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution which states: “The Regional Council for an autonomous region in respect of all areas within such region and the District Council for an autonomous district in respect of all areas within the district except those which are under the authority of Regional Councils, if any, within the district shall have power to make laws with respect to— (e) the establishment of village or town committees or councils and their powers; (f) any other matter relating to village or town administration, including village or town police and public health and sanitation;”
Based on this, the EC has decided to approach the government that the Council will be recognized as an implementing authority under the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act 1973 instead of the notification 2019 so that the position of the Council is strong and to perfectly implement the Building bye –laws in autonomous areas.
“The notification of 2019 is the source which gives the responsibilities to the Council but we feel that the Council is not only an implementing agency of the bye-laws of the state government as the aspiration of the public is to have a different bye- law and an agency to monitor the bye –law”, Lyngdoh said.
There was a notification of the Urban Affairs Department on February 1, 2019 that demarcates the implementation of building bye-laws wherein the Urban Affairs Department will implement the Building Bye- law in Municipal areas and Scheme areas while the areas outside the municipal and scheme areas will be under KHADC (autonomous areas) in which the implementing agency will be district council.