The Gazetteers Department

The Maharashtra State has an independent" Town Planning and Valua- tion department" under the administrative control of the Urban Develop- ment, Public Health and Housing department. The department, as its name indicates, principally deals with the important subjects of town planning and valuation of real property. Some of the important duties and functions of this department as stipulated by Government are as under.—

Duties and Functions.

Town Planning.

(a) To prepare regional plans, development plans and town planning schemes under the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, which has come into force in the State with effect from 11th January, 1967.

(b) To render assistance to the municipal authorities in the preparation of development plans and town planning schemes in the shape of advice, as well as loan of the services of technical assistants for the preparation of development plans, draft town planning schemes, etc.

(c) To perform the duties of Town Planning Officers, Arbitrators, when so appointed by Government under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, to carry out surveys, prepare the existing land-use-plans and development of building permission cases, to render advise to the Tribunals of Appeal and to draw up final town planning schemes, to work as members of the Regional Planning Boards constituted by Government and to prepare regional plans.

(d) To advise Government on all matters regarding town and country planning including Legislation.

(e) To advise and prepare town development, improvement, extension and slum clearance schemes under the Municipal Acts.

(f) To prepare development schemes or layouts of (i) lands belonging to Government, (ii) lands of co-operative housing societies and (iii) lands of private bodies with the sanction of Government.

(g) To prepare village layouts for extension of old village gaothan and new village gaothan sites.

(h) To advise Government on housing, slum clearance, regional planning and prevention of ribbon development including legislation.

(i) To prepare type designs for the housing of the middle and poorer classes including Harijans.

(j) To scrutinise miscellaneous building permission cases and layouts received from the Collectors and to recommend suitable building regulation for adoption in the areas concerned.

(k) To advise the Nagpur Improvement Trust, Nagpur, in the preparation of the improvement schemes under the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, to scrutinise the schemes when submitted for sanction, and advise Government regarding sanction to the schemes.

The Director of Town Planning is the chief expert adviser to Government on this subject and his duties under this heading include—

(a) valuation of agricultural and non-agricultural lands and proper- ties in towns and villages belonging to Government and intended for the purpose of sale or lease,

(b) valuation of Government properties for the purpose of rating under the Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, and functioning as the Authorised Valuation Officer for finalization of the lists of assessment of all the properties in municipal towns submitted by the Chief Officers under the provisions of the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965,

(d) valuation for the purposes of fixing standard rates of non-agricultural assessment and prescribing zones of values in all villages and rising localities in the vicinity c f important and growing towns,

(e) valuation for the purposes of fixing standard table of ground rents and land values in respect of lands in cantonments,

(f) scrutiny of awards of compensation under the land acquisition officers in important towns where land acquisition work is of a very important and responsible nature,

(h) giving expert evidence when called upon to do so in the District Courts and High Court when appeals are lodged against the awards of compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, and

(i) undertaking valuation work on behalf of Railways and other departments of Central Government and private bodies with the sanction of Government on payment of fees, etc.

Miscellaneous.

(a) To advise the various heads of departments of Government in selection of sites required for public purposes.

(b) To see that all town planning schemes or layouts sanctioned by Government are properly executed within a reasonable period or periods fixed in the schemes.

(c) To advise Government as regards interpretation, amendment of or addition to the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, or rules thereunder.

Regional Planning.

The statutory powers regarding planning were embodied under the Bombay Town Planning Act, 1915, which was in force till its replacement by the Bombay Town Planning Act, 1954. The Act of 1954 generally incorporated the provisions of the Bombay Town Planning Act, 1915, and in addition made obligatory on every local authority (barring Village Panchayats) to prepare a development plan for the entire area within its jurisdiction.

The Bombay Town Planning Act, 1954, applied to lands included within the municipal limits only, and therefore, there was no provision for exercising proper and effective control over the municipal areas which were growing in an irregular and haphazard manner. The evil results of such un-controlled growth and development have already become apparent in the vast areas outside Greater Bombay and Pune and other important urban centres. It was considered that the only way to tackle adequately these evil effects arising out of rapid industrialization and urbanization would be by resorting to regional planning for areas around the metropolitan centres like Bombay, Pune and Nagpur and by developing counter magnates for the disposal and re-allocation of both industries and population within the region.

There was no statutory power under the Act of 1954 for the preparation of regional plans which has therefore, been repealed and replaced by the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. This Act came into force in the State from 11th January, 1967. It provided for establishment of regions and constitution of Regional Planning Boards for the preparation of regional plans, designation of sites for new towns, establishment of development authorities to create new towns, preparation of development plans for the municipal areas and town planning schemes for execution of the sanctioned development plans. Government has established the Metropolitan regions at Bombay, Poona and Nagpur and constituted Regional Planning Boards for these three regions.

The object of the Regional Plan for an urban region is to formulate a policy for guidance and control of development within the region in such a manner that—

(i) land be used for the best purposes for which it is most suitable e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, etc., having regard to both public and private interests;

(ii) adequate means of communication be provided for traffic throughout the region;

(iii) building development be concentrated in areas where adequate public utility services can be supplied economically;

(iv) ample area be reserved as open space;

(v) amenities of the country side be protected including preservation of land scapes; and

(vi) preservation of historical monuments, etc.

Briefly, the object of the Regional Plan is to regulate development so as to maintain a proper balance between buildings and open space and secure healthy and economic urban growth.

Organisation.

The department as stated above was started in the year 1914, with the Consulting Surveyor to Government, Poona, (now designated as Director of Town Planning, Maharashtra State, Poona) as its head who was later assisted by one Assistant Consulting Surveyor to Government (now designated as Deputy Director of Town Planning) and one Deputy Assistant Consulting Surveyor (now designated as Assistant Director of Town Planning) and two Senior Assistants (now designated as Town Planner) with their requisite staff. As the activities of this department increased, these Assistants had to be posted at prominent places in the State to attend to the work of town planning, valuation, etc., very essentially required in and around the towns and cities. There has been tremendous increase in the activities of this department in recent years with the consequential increase in the number of branch offices in the State. The head office of this department is at Poona and other offices at present exist at Bombay, Poona, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Thana, Sholapur, Akola, Ratnagiri, Satara, Ahmadnagar, Chandrapur, Nanded and Bhiwandi. The department also spares officers to work in the awards section of Revenue and Forests department to scrutinise the land acquisition awards in the Bombay Collectorate to deal mainly with valuation work in Bombay, in Maharashtra Housing Board to function as Assessor and in the Rural Housing Cell of the Rural Development department to prepare layouts of villages included in the schemes of that department. Officers of the department are also called upon to give expert evidence in the Courts in land acquisition references and appointed to function as Arbitrators to finalise draft town planning schemes prepared by the Planning Authorities and as part-time or full-time Land Acquisition Officers at important places like Bombay, Poona, Sholapur, Kolhapur, Satara and Ahmadnagar.

Consequent upon the reorganization of States, that took place in November 1, 1956, a new branch office of this department with Deputy Assistant Consulting Surveyor to Government as its head came into exis-tance at Nagpur for the four districts of Nagpur, Chanda, Wardha and Bhandara. The making and execution of town planning schemes and the development of the areas was being regulated by the Central Provinces and Berar Town Planning Act, 1948, till 1st May, 1965, since when the Bombay Town Planning (Amendment and Extension) Act, 1965, came into force in the Vidarbha region. The Bombay Town Planning Act, was recently repealed and replaced by the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, from 11th January, 1967, which is applicable to the whole of the Maharashtra State.

According to the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, it is obligatory upon every Planning Authority as defined in the Act, to carry out survey, prepare an existing land use map and prepare and publish a development plan for the entire area within its jurisdiction. Since the municipal councils have no technical staff, the Town Planners from this department are appointed by them to function as Town Planning Officers under section 24 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. There are in all six municipal councils in Wardha district viz., Wardha, Hinganghat, Arvi, Deoli, Sindi, and Pulgaon. The development plans of Wardha and Hinganghat area have been prepared and submitted to Government for further procedure as laid down in the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. The Development Plan of Arvi is prepared and published. Development Plan of Deoli is under preparation and Development Plans for Sindi and Pulgaon will be taken up for preparation in the near future.

The Wardha Zilla Parishad prepared a District Development Plan of Wardha in consultation with the Finance Department (Planning) of Maharashtra State and the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Poona. This department helped in this work in respect of the urban side of the project by making quick surveys of the municipal towns in Wardha district and making requisite proposals for these towns in their frame work.

The Nagpur branch office of this department also prepared various layouts for (i) Village Housing Projects, (ii) Flood Affected Villages in Wardha district, (iii) Backward Class Co-operative Housing Society, (iv) Industrial Estate at Wardha and (v) Agricultural Produce Market Yard at Wardha etc. Other references from the Collector of Wardha regarding layouts of Government and private lands, grant of nazul sites, N.A. permissions, etc. were also dealt with by that Branch office.

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