Panel to review greenbelt area
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 27
The government has constituted a committee to re-examine the 17
greenbelts in the state capital in view of the existing ambiguities.
The committee has also been asked to identify khasra numbers so that
there can be a clear demarcation of the highly protected green areas
in and around the town.

The committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the
director, Town and Country Planning (TCP), with the MC commissioner,
the additional district magistrate (ADM), the additional deputy
commissioner (ADC), the DFO (Shimla division) as its members and the
town planner as its member secretary.

A notification in this regard was issued by the government on April
19, in which the committee has been directed to submit its report
within two months.

It is for the first time after the 17 greenbelts were identified and
notified by the government on December 7, 2000, that an exercise has
been undertaken to identify khasra numbers so that there are no
ambiguities in the revenue record and the physical survey maps.

As such, the shrinking green cover of the town could be re-notified
by the government after examining fresh demarcation of the
greenbelts in and around the town by the Revenue and the Town and
Country Planning (TCP) Department to remove the existing ambiguities.

It is on the directions of the Cabinet that the task of khasra-wise
identification of the greenbelts is being undertaken. Although the
greenbelts in the town were notified by the government in 2000,
there were no khasra numbers of the area forming part of these
greenbelts, leading to a number of missing links. Now, the exact
khasra numbers would be mentioned in the records.

The total demarcated green area in and around the town is around 414
hectare. The 17 greenbelts include the forest in Tuti-Kandi, Nabha,
Phagli, Lal Pani, Bemloe, Himfed, Khalini, Chotta Shimla I and II,
Kasumpti, Charlie Villa, Jakhu, Bharari, Shankali, Ruldu Bhatta,
Summer Hill, Boileauganj and Chaura Maidan.

With a complete ban on construction in the greenbelts in and around
the town, the process of transferring the physical maps into revenue
records could pave the way for partial lifting of the ban on
construction activity even if it is in a very small area. It was in
December, 2000, that the state government had imposed a complete ban
on constructions after the greenbelts were notified.