8 new green belts notified in Shimla Planning Area

Tribune News Service

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, January 16

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department has notified eight new green belts within the Shimla Planning Area, in a bid to conserve the forest areas within the city and its suburbs.

With this notification, the total number of green belts will go up from 17 to 25. The TCP Department has invited suggestions and objections for carving out these eight new green belts within the next 30 days. The main objective is to protect the green cover and the invaluable forest cover, even as the blanket ban on all construction activity in the green belts has been lifted and partial relaxation has been given.

The eight new green belts that the government has notified include Retreat, Mashobra, Band Tukda Andri, Shiv Mandir Andri, Tal and Giri, Demarcated Protected Forest (DPF), Khalini, BCS-Mist Chamber and Pari Mahal. Some of these new areas to be labeled as green belts have dense deodar forests like in Khalini, BCS, Mist Chamber and Pari Mahal. Also the new green belts will cover the Shiv Mandir area near the Summer Hill railway station, where 22 people were buried alive under a massive landslide in the monsoon last year.

Besides, the notification also mentions that residential construction in the green belts, as per the Shimla Development Plan-2041, will be allowed in areas located above the road from Navbhar to Ramchandra Chowk to Machhi Wali Kothi to Christ Church to Lakkar Bazaar to IGMC to Sanjauli Chowk to Navbhar.

“Construction shall be permitted only on those plots having no trees. However, any plot which has trees, whether green or dry, will be considered a green plot, on which no construction will be allowed. The existing presence of trees will be technically ascertained,” the notification reads. As such despite relaxation to allow need-based constructions in the green belts, construction will not be allowed on plots having trees.

In yet another step aimed to protect the existing trees, especially the deodar trees, the notification clearly mentions that no construction could be allowed within a radius of 2 m from an existing tree and 5.0 m from the forest land, measured from the circumference of an existing tree.

By way of this notification, the state government has also redefined the high security zone around Rashrapati Niwas, also known as Retreat, Charabra, Bekhalti, Mashobra and Himalayan International School.

“No new private construction shall be allowed inside the high security zone, except the reconstruction on old lines and addition and alteration in the existing building with prior approval of the state government,” the order reads. These restrictions existed earlier also but the high security zone has been redefined and more areas have been brought under its ambit.

Bid to protect forest cover

• The main objective is to protect the green cover and the invaluable forest cover, even as the blanket ban on all construction activity in the green belts has been lifted and partial relaxation has been given.
• The eight new green belts are Retreat, Mashobra, Band Tukda Andri, Shiv Mandir Andri, Tal and Giri, Demarcated Protected Forest (DPF), Khalini, BCS-Mist Chamber and Pari Mahal

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