AIZAWL: The Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) has introduced new rules aimed at regulating site development, slope cutting, filling and land clearing in order to mitigate landslides, sinking areas, rockfalls and other natural or man-made disasters.
Mayor Lalringenga Sailo said that the AMC Site Development and Slope Modification Regulations were framed in 2017 to regulate and control slope cutting, filling, land clearing and other settlement activities in the state capital Aizawl, which is prone to landslide and other calamities mostly caused by unscrupulous activities of men.
The regulations were partly implemented since they were notified in the official gazette by the AMC on October 29 this year, he said on Wednesday. Sailo said that Aizawl has experienced numerous landslides, which have all too often caused loss of life and the destruction of homes, community buildings, and important infrastructure.
Human activities such as slope cutting, filling, increasing the amount of groundwater penetrating into slopes, and disposing of sewerage and drainage onto slopes in a poorly controlled manner can greatly increase slope instability, he said.
According to Sailo, any person or government agency intending to construct a building requiring site development work will now need to obtain a site development permit in addition to a building permit.
However, digging of individual grave, excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of an ordinary building, or of a semi-permanent or permanent building located in an area of low landslide hazard, disposal sites controlled by AMC, defence ministry projects, exploratory excavation and emergency work necessary to preserve life or property under imminent threat of excessive erosion, among others, are exempted from the regulations, he said.
Under the new regulations, land or site development is broadly divided into two categories- engineered site development (moderate, high or very high landslide hazard) and regular site development (low landslide hazard).