Garhwal Post Bureau
Haridwar, 19 June: The Haridwar-Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) board, chaired by Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, approved the Master Plans for both Haridwar and Roorkee during its 84th meeting held here today.
Following the approval, the approval of construction maps in Shivalik Nagar and Bhoopatwala has been put on hold for one month, as the areas face long-standing concerns about the misuse of residential maps for commercial construction. These zones have been declared “freeze zones”, with no map clearances to be granted during the moratorium. It was decided that the matter will be forwarded to the state government for further consideration.
On this occasion, Pandey declared that the newly sanctioned Master Plans will be displayed in the offices of all departments concerned in both cities. He also announced that 528 housing unit beneficiaries under the Prime Minister’s Housing Scheme, currently facing difficulty in repaying interest, have been granted temporary exemption until the next board meeting.
In a further move, the HRDA board also resolved to send a proposal to the state government to ease certain approval regulations for rural and densely inhabited old areas, aiming to streamline construction activity in such regions.
Later, in an unrelated development, Garhwal Commissioner Pandey also addressed the matter of Uttarakhand residents stranded in Iran. He assured that efforts are underway to facilitate their safe return, echoing the Indian government’s consistent stance on repatriating its citizens in distress abroad. He cited the successful evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine as an example of the government’s commitment.
