Haryana administrators pitch for modernising urban area law

Speaking on the occasion, Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi said urban policies and regulatory frameworks must continuously evolve to address emerging challenges of sustainability, infrastructure resilience, rapid urban expansion and changing citizen expectations

Senior administrators, urban planners and real estate captains on Saturday made a collective pitch for modernising Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, to keep pace with the state’s rapidly expanding urban landscape and evolving developmental needs.

Rastogi said that coordinated efforts among government institutions, planners and industry stakeholders were essential to ensure balanced, inclusive and future-ready urban development across Haryana. (HT Photo for representation)

A consensus emerged at a high-level roundtable discussion organised by the Institute of Town Planners, India – Haryana Regional Chapter (ITPI–HRC) in Panchkula, to mark 51 years of the landmark legislation that laid the foundation for planned urban development in Haryana through private sector participation.

Speaking on the occasion, Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi said urban policies and regulatory frameworks must continuously evolve to address emerging challenges of sustainability, infrastructure resilience, rapid urban expansion and changing citizen expectations.

He said the 1975 Act had significantly contributed to planned urban growth, infrastructure creation and economic development in the state over five decades. However, time has come to take it to the next level, he said.

Rastogi said that coordinated efforts among government institutions, planners and industry stakeholders were essential to ensure balanced, inclusive and future-ready urban development across Haryana.

The session was moderated by former chief town planner Jaswant Singh. The real estate industry roundtable brought together leading developers including Gaurav Jain of Samyak Infra, Gautam Bhalla of Vatika Ltd., Rishi Raj of Conscient Ltd., Manish Swaroop of Signature Global India, Pankaj Bajaj of Eldeco Group and Abhijeet Singh of M3M India, moderated by Rohit Sharma of DLF Ltd.