Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Notify NCR Plan-2041 in six months, parliamentary panel recommends | Delhi News

A Parliamentary panel Monday recommended that the Regional Plan 2041 for the National Capital Region – the draft of which was published in 2021 – be notified within six months, adding that the delay in finalising and reviewing the previous plan, RP-2021, had led to “unplanned commercialisation and haphazard development” of the NCR.

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, chaired by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, tabled its report on the functioning of the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The committee looked into the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s 2020 report on the functioning of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which contained a review of the NCRPB.

The committee noted that the RP-2021 was only notified in 2005 – five years after the period it was supposed to cover (2001 to 2021) began.

“The Committee further found that no timeline was followed to review the RP-2021 which is a contributory factor for the delays for which the Board could not furnish any reason. This delay has led to unplanned commercialisation and haphazard development of the NCR… The Committee further notes with concern that the Draft RP 2041 which remains to be formally approved, has received several objections, particularly from environmentalists and Government of Haryana,” the committee’s report said.

It added that all stakeholders should be brought on one platform and the differences should be ironed out at the earliest “so that the RP-2041 also does not meet the fate as that of RP-2021”. The committee recommended that the NCRPB notify RP-2041 within six months and review it after five years, as mandated.

Asked by the committee about the current status of RP-2041, the Ministry said the draft had been published on December 9, 2021, to invite public suggestions and objections. “The Draft Final Regional Plan 2041, after incorporating public suggestions, is proposed to be placed before the Board for consideration and approval for its final publication,” the Ministry said, as per the report.

According to a source, the final RP draft would be placed before the Board at the “earliest”.

The NCRPB was established by an act of Parliament in 1985 to coordinate the planning of the NCR across districts in Uttar Pradesh, DelhiHaryana, and Rajasthan. The board is chaired by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister and includes members from NCR states.

In its report, the C&AG had said: “The NCRPB has not been able to build a strong relationship with the States and Union Territory in the NCR.” It had raised the issue of delay in notifying and revising the RP-2021, non-formulation of functional plans for different sectors and irregularities in granting loans to cities.

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Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu’s national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. … Read More

First published on: 19-12-2023 at 00:15 IST


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