LUCKNOW: Urban local bodies are set to start a process to approve building maps in a bid to generate new revenue streams.
Currently, the authority to approve plans lies with housing development agencies in regulated areas. However, areas outside of these regulations, maintained by municipal bodies, lack such mechanisms.
Consequently, on the outskirts and in peripheral regions, buildings are constructed haphazardly. This unplanned growth leads to traffic congestion and bottlenecks as these areas develop over time.
Officials noted that encroachment on public spaces is common, with property owners often building on land meant to be reserved as setbacks for future road widenings. “It’s also very common for balconies and terraces to extend over streets, and there is no regulatory authority overseeing construction in these underdeveloped or developing areas,” an officer stated.
While preliminary work is underway, implementing building bylaws across 762 urban local bodies may take up to two years. Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, P Guruprasad, remarked, “We are discussing mechanisms to regulate construction within municipal limits. However, extensive groundwork is needed to establish resources, manpower, and expertise to develop a new regulatory system from the ground up.”
