Court halts move to allow vertical constructions

The plan of the government to allow vertical construction in the hill state has been put on hold by the court amidst scepticism over construction of high rise structures in a state where most areas fall in high seismic zone.

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department had issued a notification, allowing 13 to 20 storey buildings on plots having more than 4000 sq mts areas and 10,000 sq mts, respectively. The court has now put on hold the notification on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed before it. The TCP notification, issued on September 24, earlier this year has been issued under the Town and Country Planning (13th Amendment) Rules, 2024.

Even as certain riders have been put in place while allowing high rise structures like big plot size and only on gentle slopes, the government decision has come as a surprise to most. The order comes close on the heels of several court directives, asserting the need for checking haphazard and unregulated constructions. Despite several orders, including the one by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), emphasising the need for undertaking carrying capacity, especially of all hill stations, the vulnerability assessment and other such studies have not been undertaken.

Though the state government had allowed high rise structures with over 13 storeys only on land with a slope of less that 15 degrees in plains and 20 degrees in hilly areas, questions are being raised on the vulnerability of seismic, sliding and fragile mountain eco-system. Also the haphazard construction activity in rural areas all along the national highways, in the absence of these areas being outside the ambit of TCP norms, has already led to a chaotic situation.

Though the TCP Department is working towards bringing maximum areas under the ambit of planning norms there is strong resistance to such efforts fearing restrictions. In fact, a committee had been constituted during the last BJP regime to exclude some rural and semi-urban areas from the ambit of TCP Act, 1977 following protests by villagers.

Several environmentalists and architects, too, have voiced concerns over allowing such high-rise struc-tures in a state that considers tourism as one of its main revenue generating areas. “Allowing high-rise structures is a pre-mature decision as till date no load bearing study has been undertaken in Himachal. Before, allowing such vertical constructions, the government will have to scale up civic amenities like water, electricity, sewerage and other facilities as the move could open floodgates for constructions, especially in the real estate and commercial sectors,” said Vidur, an architect.

With most towns in Himachal buckling under pressure due to unregulated construction activity, there is an imperative need to allow only those buildings which are in sync with the hilly terrain.

Haphazard, unregulated constructions

The order comes close on the heels of several court directives asserting the need for checking haphazard and unregulated constructions

The Town and Country Planning Department has issued a notification, allowing 13 to 20 storey buildings on plots of over 4,000 sq mt and 10,000 sq mt, respectively