Himachal Govt for mandatory inspections of foundations of buildings in the Shimla Planning area 

Himachal Pradesh Government after deciding to open the green belt by proposing an amendment in the Shimla Development Plan presently under consideration before the Supreme Court of India announced today that it would go for mandatory inspections of foundations of all the buildings in the Shimla planning areas including urban and Special planning area to ensure the safety of its citizens.  

In a press statement issued on Thursday spokesperson of the town and country planning Department stated that the government is mulling a new strategy to make mandatory provision of inspection at the foundation level for all buildings in urban, planning, and special areas
After a prolonged wait of over four decades, the Development Plan for Shimla has been prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department in order to revive the growth regulators with the vision for a well-regulated and planned Shimla and its suburbs, best capturing the urbanization trend and aspiration of the city and its fringes.

The Development Plan has been prepared under AMRUT Sub-Scheme of Govt. of India considering Shimla’s potential of a tourist destination, vibrant environment, natural ecosystem, and its capacity to accommodate future residents as well as floating population by the year 2041.

A spokesperson of the Town and Country Planning Department said here today that the department has prepared the development plan for the Shimla Planning Area duly considering the direction of the High Court and the National Green Tribunal.

However, these provisions as proposed during the previous Government’s regime were quite flexible and were likely to be misused by the residents and would lead to indiscriminate and unregulated cutting of trees to some extent.

He said that in order to preserve the Green Belts of the Shimla Planning Area, considering the fragile ecology and a focus on sustainable development, especially in the Green Belt area encircled by the road from Navbahar to Ramchandra Chowk to Machhi wali Kothi to Christ Church to Lakkar Bazar to IGMC to Sanjauli Chowk and to Navbahar, the present State Government intends to allow limited construction with stringent regulations and control.

He said that to preserve the rich ecological and natural heritage of Shimla city and give an extended lease of life to its invaluable green lungs, it has been proposed that on any developable plot i.e. ‘Green Plot’ located in above mentioned Green Belt Area, no construction shall be allowed on such plots, even if a single tree, either alive or dead or dry is standing.

He said that the drainage master plan shall be prepared in a phased manner to ensure effective, efficient, and immediate drainage of excessive rainwater for all urban centers and rural towns considering the recent unprecedented rainfalls and the subsequent disaster across the urban as well as rural areas of the state.

The Government is also proposing to make mandatory provision of inspection at the foundation level for all buildings in urban areas as well as Planning and Special Areas of the State. He said that for high-risk buildings, especially residential, commercial, industrial, real estate projects, and institutional projects, the Geological Investigation Report as well as the detailed Structural Design Report as per BIS codes is being made mandatory at the time of approval.  Effective implementation of these stringent yet much-required provisions will make all the urban as well as rural areas resilient to future disasters of any kind, he remarked.