In a major administrative overhaul aimed at streamlining urban development and curbing the menace of unauthorized colonies, the Haryana Government has decided to significantly enhance the powers of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Department. The state has transferred the authority to grant Change of Land Use (CLU) permissions and licenses for developing colonies within municipal limits from the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department to the ULB Department.
Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel stated that the move is designed to end the “duality of control” that previously hampered regulated development. Until now, the TCP Department held the mandate for granting licenses and CLUs even for pockets of land situated within municipal boundaries. This often led to a lack of coordination between the two departments, resulting in delays for developers and a vacuum that allowed illegal colonies to mushroom.
Under the new framework, the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies will be the sole competent authority for planning and regulating land use within the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporations, Councils, and Committees. “By empowering the ULB department, we are ensuring that the agency responsible for providing civic amenities also has the power to regulate how the city expands. This will fix accountability and speed up the approval process for valid housing and commercial projects,” Goel explained.
The government has also directed the ULB department to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for regularizing existing illegal colonies while ensuring that no new unauthorized structures come up. To handle the increased workload, the department is likely to strengthen its town planning wing with additional technical staff.
