I am writing this out as i am fed up of this ruthless government of Himachal Pradesh regarding Town and Country Planning (TCP) but i am unable to do anything about it except writing. Hence i'll write at least.
Myself Sunil Sharma. My parents bought a small piece of land (150 sq. mtr) in town area in Mandi HP. We built a house on that land. But we never got to live in that house because the Municipal committee won't give us NOC (no objection certificate) to apply for electricity and water supply connections. What?
My land
My house
No government land encroachment
Why? (let's just imagine the government is replying to me directly ( which would never happen in the real world)
Government : Because, the TCP wants you to leave some setbacks (empty land).
Me :Why do you want empty land on my land?
Government : Well, we are concerned that you should have enough space to lay pipes for water and sewerage connections and electricity connections.
So thoughtful of you :). Yeah, i have enough open land for that. How much does the TCP want?
Government : Well, you are allowed to make a toilet in the middle.
It should be 3 meters from the front, 2 meters left, 2 meters back, 2 meters right.
What? that's too much.
Government : I don't care.
My land is 10m X 15m in dimensions. According to TCP i can construct a house on 5m X 11m i.e. 55 sq. meter only.
Guys, 55 sq. meter out of 150 sq. meter i bought at high cost in town area. I can construct only on one third of the land i bought.
Now i am gonna note down all the problems in these TCP rules :
1. Too much set back requirement : As i have illustrated earlier, a person with 150 sq. meters land is allowed to construct on 55 sq. meters of it only. This requirement is too unrealistic especially on small lands.
The only excuse in support of this requirement is that some open land is required to provide basic amenities such as sewerage and water/electricity connections. In reply to that i would like to say - please be practical. I have laid my sewerage lines perfectly for my unauthorized construction. 1 metre setback is enough for that.
As long as you cannot provide a good reason for this much setback requirement, you have no right to call my house unauthorised.
2. No one follows these rules, no one : My house is on my own land, no government land encroachment, single storey. However all my neighbours have their constructions authorized. They are authorized but they have encroached on govt land. They have got water/electricity/sewerage and are living happily but they have congested the road to my house and no cars or ambulance can reach me. The point to be noted here is that the definition of unauthorised is very wrong here. Let me explain, according to govt. practically :
Authorised (according to the government) : A house made after taking permission from the TCP, no matter if it is on govt. land or 6 storeyed or totally different from the plan approved.
Unauthorised : A house made on own land, no encroachment but has not fulfilled some stupid setback requirements.
3. Fees : I do not understand why does the government need fees to authorise the constructions. If it is allowed it is allowed, if its dangerous then just don't allow it. Why does the government need fees? The fees are too much (in lacs).
4. Spreading the TCP tyranny : The government is taking more and more areas under TCP in order to collect taxes but those areas still lack in basic amenities like plenty of water, sewerage connections, street lights etc.
5. Double standards : In mandi setback requirements are :
3 metre front 2m left, right and back
In Shimla :
2 metre front 1.5m left, right and back
Its different at different places. Why?
6. New TCP rules imposed on old Towns = Fail.
My house is in old existing town. Here, nobody cares about the silly TCP rules, everybody has encroached on govt. land. Everybody has lands smaller than you can think. Leaving setbacks on these small lands is not practical. Such setback requirements can be imposed only on new colonies successfully.
Now i am replying to those people who are opposing the one-time settlement plan by the government.
1. "Those who have made small houses by strictly following these TCP rules are feeling cheated."
I don't think there are people who have followed the TCP rules strictly, especially on small lands. I don't think there exists any person who has a land smaller than 200 sq. meters. and has followed the TCP rules about setbacks or any other. If i had bigger land, i would also voluntarily leave 3m setbacks.
2. "Unsafe multi-storeyed buildings are being regularized, they will fall during earthquake"
To ensure the safety of buildings, there is a document known as "structure stability certificate" which is required to get the construction plan approved. The government just needs to keep this procedure strict and fair. If the structure is stable then pass it, if it isn't do not pass it. I agree that no carelessness should be practiced regarding the safety of people.
3. "Ambulance can't reach the houses due to encroachment, they should not be regularized"
That is true. I don't fight for the constructions on govt. lands, but the TCP rule is stopping those people too who have constructed houses on their own building for no good reason.
At last i just want to say that the government and critics should observe the problem at ground level and then make practical rules.
And i welcome the Virbhadra Singh government as they paid attention to these problems and brought amendment rules finally in 2016. Everybody is not satisfied with the amendments but something here is a lot better than nothing. But again the HP-TCP amendment bill 2016 has stuck at RajBhavan and all hopes are about to shatter.
Thank you. Comments,debates and opinions are welcome.
Myself Sunil Sharma. My parents bought a small piece of land (150 sq. mtr) in town area in Mandi HP. We built a house on that land. But we never got to live in that house because the Municipal committee won't give us NOC (no objection certificate) to apply for electricity and water supply connections. What?
My land
My house
No government land encroachment
Why? (let's just imagine the government is replying to me directly ( which would never happen in the real world)
Government : Because, the TCP wants you to leave some setbacks (empty land).
Me :Why do you want empty land on my land?
Government : Well, we are concerned that you should have enough space to lay pipes for water and sewerage connections and electricity connections.
So thoughtful of you :). Yeah, i have enough open land for that. How much does the TCP want?
Government : Well, you are allowed to make a toilet in the middle.
It should be 3 meters from the front, 2 meters left, 2 meters back, 2 meters right.
What? that's too much.
Government : I don't care.
My land is 10m X 15m in dimensions. According to TCP i can construct a house on 5m X 11m i.e. 55 sq. meter only.
Guys, 55 sq. meter out of 150 sq. meter i bought at high cost in town area. I can construct only on one third of the land i bought.
Now i am gonna note down all the problems in these TCP rules :
1. Too much set back requirement : As i have illustrated earlier, a person with 150 sq. meters land is allowed to construct on 55 sq. meters of it only. This requirement is too unrealistic especially on small lands.
The only excuse in support of this requirement is that some open land is required to provide basic amenities such as sewerage and water/electricity connections. In reply to that i would like to say - please be practical. I have laid my sewerage lines perfectly for my unauthorized construction. 1 metre setback is enough for that.
As long as you cannot provide a good reason for this much setback requirement, you have no right to call my house unauthorised.
2. No one follows these rules, no one : My house is on my own land, no government land encroachment, single storey. However all my neighbours have their constructions authorized. They are authorized but they have encroached on govt land. They have got water/electricity/sewerage and are living happily but they have congested the road to my house and no cars or ambulance can reach me. The point to be noted here is that the definition of unauthorised is very wrong here. Let me explain, according to govt. practically :
Authorised (according to the government) : A house made after taking permission from the TCP, no matter if it is on govt. land or 6 storeyed or totally different from the plan approved.
Unauthorised : A house made on own land, no encroachment but has not fulfilled some stupid setback requirements.
3. Fees : I do not understand why does the government need fees to authorise the constructions. If it is allowed it is allowed, if its dangerous then just don't allow it. Why does the government need fees? The fees are too much (in lacs).
4. Spreading the TCP tyranny : The government is taking more and more areas under TCP in order to collect taxes but those areas still lack in basic amenities like plenty of water, sewerage connections, street lights etc.
5. Double standards : In mandi setback requirements are :
3 metre front 2m left, right and back
In Shimla :
2 metre front 1.5m left, right and back
Its different at different places. Why?
6. New TCP rules imposed on old Towns = Fail.
My house is in old existing town. Here, nobody cares about the silly TCP rules, everybody has encroached on govt. land. Everybody has lands smaller than you can think. Leaving setbacks on these small lands is not practical. Such setback requirements can be imposed only on new colonies successfully.
Now i am replying to those people who are opposing the one-time settlement plan by the government.
1. "Those who have made small houses by strictly following these TCP rules are feeling cheated."
I don't think there are people who have followed the TCP rules strictly, especially on small lands. I don't think there exists any person who has a land smaller than 200 sq. meters. and has followed the TCP rules about setbacks or any other. If i had bigger land, i would also voluntarily leave 3m setbacks.
2. "Unsafe multi-storeyed buildings are being regularized, they will fall during earthquake"
To ensure the safety of buildings, there is a document known as "structure stability certificate" which is required to get the construction plan approved. The government just needs to keep this procedure strict and fair. If the structure is stable then pass it, if it isn't do not pass it. I agree that no carelessness should be practiced regarding the safety of people.
3. "Ambulance can't reach the houses due to encroachment, they should not be regularized"
That is true. I don't fight for the constructions on govt. lands, but the TCP rule is stopping those people too who have constructed houses on their own building for no good reason.
At last i just want to say that the government and critics should observe the problem at ground level and then make practical rules.
And i welcome the Virbhadra Singh government as they paid attention to these problems and brought amendment rules finally in 2016. Everybody is not satisfied with the amendments but something here is a lot better than nothing. But again the HP-TCP amendment bill 2016 has stuck at RajBhavan and all hopes are about to shatter.
Thank you. Comments,debates and opinions are welcome.
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