SHILLONG, MAY 15: The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has decided to withdraw the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority from implementing the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2011 in areas under the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council’s jurisdiction.
At the same time, the government has also directed the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department to relax the permissions required for providing power and water connection to newly constructed houses in the scheduled areas.
The decision was taken at a tripartite meeting between the state government, KHADC and the traditional heads under the banner of the Synjuk Ki Nongsynshar Shnong Ka Bri U Hynniewtrep (SNSBH) held in the city here on Tuesday.
The meeting chaired by the chief minister Conrad K Sangma was attended by cabinet ministers, KHADC chief Pynshngain N Syiem, MDCs and representatives of the Synjuk besides senior government officials.
“We have decided in principle that the areas under the autonomous district council (ADC) outside the purview of the municipality will not be affected by the MUDA building byelaws,” Conrad told reporters after the meeting.
The chief minister also informed that the government will also direct the MeECL and the PHE department to ensure that the permissions required are relax because lots of people are suffering as they are not getting power and water connections.
“We have asked urban department to write to the MeECL and PHE to relax those provisions,” he said.
In a similar meeting held last year, the previous state government, while announcing withdrawal of the MUDA, had decided to appoint local authorities under the tribal district councils for implementing of the building byelaws for regulating building constructions in areas outside the municipality.
However, the chief minister said that the decision taken by the then government on the issue is something which the present government is not having in mind.
Asked how the government is planning to regulate and monitor building constructions outside the municipal area, Conrad said that the government has asked the KHADC to come up with its own building byelaws.
“The district council will be framing their building byelaws and we have decided on the need to put up town planning committees (TPCs). The district council affairs (DCA) and KHADC will also together discuss on how to make laws for the TPCs,” he said.
When reminded that the state government in September 25, 2015 had struck down the KHAD (Land Development and Building) Regulation, 2015 passed by the KHADC by declaring it as “unauthorized”, the chief minister however said, “That is what I am saying we are here to look into all those aspects and revisit as we must realize that the original provisions that were there in the laws are in 1973 Act mention about the fact that this (building byelaws) will be applicable except in the ADC areas.”
Whether there was a proposal to amend the Meghalaya Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act, 2004, Conrad admitted that there were some legal complications and the law department has been asked to look into.
As per the amended Act 2004, section 1 sub-section (2) of the original Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act, 1973 which clearly states “It shall extend to the whole of Meghalaya excluding the Autonomous Districts” – has been deleted.
“Even in 1973, when this law was adopted from Assam there were substitutions that were made in certain clauses and now we need to go into legal aspects whether the substitutions were done properly or not whether its legal or not and at the same time in 2004 the amendments that were made were these amendments to a certain clause or not. The legal department will examine all those and move in the right manner,” Conrad said.
“But what is more important is that apart from the legal aspect and legal provisions, in principle the decision was to go back to the original provisions that was there in the law (1973),” he announced.
By Our Reporter
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