Aravallis are to be Delineated in the Entire NCR

Dec 04,2017

The “forests” should be identified as per the Orders of the Supreme Court and the “Aravallis” are to be delineated in the entire NCR, as per the earlier decisions of the Board w.r.t adopting the parameters/ ‘specific areas’ of MoEF notification dated 07.05.1992. Accordingly, the work on NCZ delineation needs to be expeditiously finalized by NCR participating States, with verification of State revenue records and reports be submitted to the Board. This was decided in the 37th meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) which was held here today. The meeting chaired by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State(IC), Housing & Urban Affairs and attended by Shri Manoharlal Khattar, Chief Minister Haryana; Shri Suresh Kumar Khanna, Minister of Urban Development, Uttar Pradesh; Shri Satyendra Jain, Minister of Public Works Department, NCT Delhi also approved the inclusion of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh in NCR. Sh Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary (HUA), Govt. of India, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana, Member Secretary, NCRPB and other senior officers of the Central Govt., and NCR participating States also attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Sh Puri stated that the NCR Planning Board is a unique example of inter-state and inter-agency coordination and regional development in the country and calls for special attention to address its needs and challenges. The Minister emphasized on the need of detailing of Regional Plan in the Sub Regional Plans and said that provisions and policies of Regional Plan are for betterment of region as a whole and need to be followed in letter and spirit. He indicated that while Functional Plans for NCR on Economic Development and Drainage were released by the Board in 2016, States need to be forthcoming in benefitting from the same and should prepare and implement projects & programs in line with same.

The Board considered the proposal of Govt. of U.P. for inclusion of Shamli district in NCR and stated that with addition to NCR, the provisions of NCRPB Act will be applicable. Accordingly, for any financial assistance for these districts, the requisite Sub Regional Plans have to be in place. It was also discussed that as the horizon year of the current Regional Plan was fast approaching, NCRPB is already in process of initiating the works for preparation of next Regional Plan with horizon of another 20-25 years. Hence, NCR States should keenly participate and have a common vision for the development of the NCR. The Board also took stock of progress made in Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), which was conceived by the NCRPB, and is now being implemented by NCRTC. Chairman urged the participating States to come together and resolve their issues amicably for RRTS to become a trend-setter in the field of regional transport in the country. It was agreed that a Delineation study needs to be carried out for further inclusion/exclusion of Districts to/from NCR and that States may expedite submission of their comments on broad parameters to be taken up for same.

It was decided that NCR participating States need to expedite preparation of the Sub-Regional Plans for newly added districts and complete the works by March 2018. Chairman clarified that all districts need to have SRP without which the NCRPB funding would not be possible for projects in these districts. NCRPB may be considered as a Financial Institution (FI) to play pivotal role in infrastructure development of Smart Cities in NCR and its Counter Magnet Areas.  Govt. of Delhi was requested to expedite its approval for DPR on Delhi- Meerut RRTS corridor, to help faster implementation of the project.

Shri Puri mentioned that interest rates offered by NCRPB for infrastructure development projects are most attractive and NCRPB has achieved a new feat in 2016-17 by disbursing loan of Rs. 1654 crores in a single year which is highest since inception of the Board. He also informed that during first nine months of the current year, the Board has already disbursed loan of Rs.1276 crores and has a plan to achieve a target of Rs.2000 crore in this financial year.  He urged the States to continue taking benefit of the low interest rates offered by the Board for facilitating the physical and social infrastructure projects in their respective States.