SHILLONG, Oct 25: The Executive Committee of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council on Monday decided to reject the Meghalaya Building Bye-Laws, 2021.
Executive Member in charge of building bye-laws, Paul Lyngdoh said the name of the Autonomous District Council (ADC) as an authority features only in the “definition” part of the gazette.
“The bye-laws do not define the role of the district council and its jurisdiction. We had agreed in the ADC-government meeting to have the same bye-laws for the whole state,” he said.
According to him, there was also an agreement to have a separate bye-law according to the suitability of the villages or towns.
“But the government has not considered this aspect. The building bye-law notified by the state government is different from what we discussed in the three meetings with the Urban Affairs department,” Lyngdoh said.
He also said a provision was incorporated in the bye-laws where building permission in any area above 50,000 sq. ft will be given by the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) even if such an area falls under the ADCs.
Lyngdoh also said the approval of building plans or building permission will have to be signed by an engineer and an architect with a Ph.D and doctorate along with 10 years of experience.
He said it will be difficult to find people with such qualifications. “It is also impractical for such people to give clearance for thousands of buildings,” he added.
Lyngdoh further said the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting between the Urban Affairs department and the ADCs were not given to the KHADC.
