The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) on Tuesday deferred its decision on the draft NCR Regional Plan-2041, which proposes high-rise development and five to eight new greenfield townships, sources said.
The draft had been sent to the NCR constituent States — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan — in January and comments from all of them had been received, an official said. However, during Tuesday’s meeting chaired by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal sought more time for submissions, the official said. The States were then given one month for additional comments, with a special meeting to consider the plan likely to be held in October, the official said.
High rise and high density norms
The draft plan, which would take over from the existing Regional Plan-2021, proposes that NCR cities and towns should be “planned with optimum high rise and high density norms”; the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) norms should be similar to international standards; mixed land-use of residential, commercial and institutional should be allowed “both vertically and horizontally” in the older areas of the NCR; and private land-owners should have the authority to cut or replace trees planted on their land.
The draft plan says the elements under the Natural Conservation Zones in the RP-2021 will remain, but there would be a distinction between “forests and green cover” and areas currently categorised as ‘forests’ will continue to be conserved in RP-2041.
The meeting was attended by Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain and U.P. Minister Sidharth Nath Singh, apart from Mr. Puri, Mr. Manohar Lal and HUA Ministry officials.
In a statement, the HUA Ministry said the Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement for Stage Carriage and Contract Carriage between Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and U.P. was launched during the meeting. This would enable single-point taxation for all taxis, auto-rickshaws and buses, it said.
Web geo-portal
A web geo-portal for the NCR covering land use, transport, water, power etc was also launched.
“The Draft Regional Plan-2041 was discussed wherein Chairman had a view that the DRP-2041 needs to be put in public domain for feedback and comments at the earliest so that the Plan is finalised soon. Chairman asked States to submit their comments which will be taken up in next meeting of NCRPB. The Chairman also directed to convene Board Meeting to discuss Draft Regional Plan-2041 exclusively soon,” the statement said.
