Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Urban Administration Department has started work on preparing an Act against illegal colonies and, in search of a stronger legal framework, is even rummaging through records going back 40 years.
A senior officer of the Urban Administration Department tasked with preparing draft legislation told Free Press that the government does not have a separate Act to deal with illegal colonies in the state.
At present, issues related to illegal colonies are handled through various provisions under Acts governing municipal corporations and municipalities.
To address the problem in a more effective manner, the department has begun groundwork for a dedicated law. Sources in UAD said that along with examining provisions enshrined in Acts of municipal corporations and municipalities, the department is also considering sending a team of officers to other large states to study how they deal with illegal colonies and what kind of legislation they have in place.
Best practices followed in other states are likely to be studied before preparing the draft law.
Preparations for Act against illegal colonies are still in an initial stage, but suggestions from CREDAI may also be sought during process. The objective is to have legislation that can handle issue of illegal colonies smoothly and help state government contain unauthorised constructions.
Notably, during recently concluded Assembly Budget session, Urban Administration and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced that government is committed to bringing a law against illegal colonies within three months.
He said illegal colonies pose several problems for local administration and distort planned development and face of cities. Problem of illegal colonies is affecting almost all major as well as smaller cities of Madhya Pradesh.
