Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A Joint Assembly Committee (JAC),set-up by Speaker Tulsi Ram to review Himachal Pradesh Apartment and Property Regulation Act,2005,following controversies relating to serious violations,has recommended scrapping of the law. The committee said the Act was not in the interest of the state.
The Act was passed during the earlier Congress regime despite opposition from the BJP,which had alleged that the government would end up favouring big realtors and builders.
Suresh Bhardwaj,a BJP MLA and JAC chairman,who tabled committees report in the House on the last day of the monsoon session,pointed the irregularities in the implementation of the law,resulting in large-scale benami transactions and diversion of prime agricultural land along the National Highways .
Further,the law also overlaps certain provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act (TCP),1977,and HIMUDA Act,2004. Infact the existing law (TCP Act) was in itself a strong legislation. It could be amended to include certain clauses of the Apartment Act. All those who are given licenses or Essentiality Certificates (ECs) to build apartments should be made accountable for violations, Bhardwaj said reading out the 13 recommendations made by the panel.
Earlier,Congress MLA Kuldeep Pathania insisted that since the copies of the JACs report have not been circulated to the members,the House has a right to known as to what the committee has really proposed and what action the government intends to take.
At this Bhardwaj informed that the Act should be scrapped in the interests of the citizens,especially farmers so that their land could be saved.
The JAC also recommended legal action against those builders who have shown registration of the land deals much below the actual value causing loss to the government. It also sought action against the officials who helped the builders mainly in Solan and Shimla districts.
Making out a case for amendment in the TCP Act,the committee asked for incorporating word the words colonizers or apartment beside ensuring that the amended Act is made applicable through out the state including areas out of the planning zones.
The JAC also recommended action against the promoters who have violated provisions of the Apartment Act or built apartments without obtaining necessary approvals. The committee reportedly found that several unregistered realtors have built and sold apartments.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal later said that the government would study the recommendations and would adopt amendments in the laws.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
