More relief to realtors,Punjab allows CLU at local level

The government has empowered STPs posted at Mohali,Amritsar,Jalandhar,Ludhiana,Patiala and Chandigarh to grant the CLU of their respective areas. The decision will not only curtail the procedural delay for grant of CLUs but also boost development activities in the state,feels the government.

According to the new order,the STPs will now be competent to grant CLUs of up to 25 acres for residential,industrial and institutional purposes besides CLUs for commercial purposes to the projects of up to 2 acres.

Earlier,STPs were competent to grant CLUs of up to 10 acres for residential and institutional purposes and up to 5 acres for industrial purpose. However,they were not competent to grant CLUs for commercial purposes,following which all such cases had to come to the Competent Authority at Chandigarh for necessary approval. This caused unnecessary delays.

However,cases seeking CLUs for projects above 25 acres for residential,institutional and industrial purposes and above 2 acres for commercial purposes would continue to be in the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing and Urban Development at Chandigarh.

Disclosing this in Mohali,Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (SHUD) S S Sandhu said that the STPs have been asked to ensure that each CLU granted should conform to the proposals of the notified master plan of that area. He said that the grant of CLU in a notified planning area and areas where master plans have not been notified or where a non-statutory master plan exists would continue to come to the office of Punjab Chief Town Planner,as usual. “Such cases shall be considered in a time-bound manner,” he assured.

Also,a CLU in an area outside the notified local planning area would be granted by the STP concerned within the limits of the other above mentiioned areas.

Dr Sandhu further directed the STPs to ensure that while granting a CLU for an area outside the Notified Planning Area,it fulfills the conditions and norms of Planning Siting,including area norms,width of the road and front. “The Project should integrate with some kind of existing development. Residential projects,in particular,should not be carried out in isolation,” the STPs were told.

What Is CLU

Section 81 read with Rule 36,37 and 38 of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act,1995,provides for seeking Change of Land Use by a person who intends to carry out any development in a particular area.