HYDERABAD: The State government has decided to adopt a land pooling scheme (LPS) for development of layouts in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) across the State, akin to the scheme taken up in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region by HMDA to achieve planned development of peripheries and develop new growth corridors.
The State government will issue necessary orders to this effect next week after the model code of conduct for the MLC polls is lifted. Until now, the scheme was limited only to HMR region. It is being extended across the State for creation of model layouts and townships, development of planned infrastructure, creating additional revenue, make litigation-free plots available, regulate prices and avoid illegal layouts.
With the government extending the land pooling scheme to all ULBs and UDAs across the State, it has also decided that land consolidation, with cooperative involvement of stakeholders, should be taken up in an institutionalised manner. Based on previous experience, it is established that this is the ideal way to promote new townships and layouts rather than through land acquisition.
Senior municipal officials told Express that Hyderabad has seen exponential growth in the last few years, and is expected to continue to grow at a similar or even faster pace in future too. The demand for housing will also continue to grow and to ensure that there isn’t too much stress on Hyderabad and on areas within the Outer Ring Road (ORR), it is essential that new planned townships are created, officials said.
HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) and other departments such as Roads and Buildings (R&B) have taken up infrastructure works including planning and formation of new link roads, grid roads in greenfield areas etc. As a result, areas which were earlier inaccessible are opening up for development of new townships and residential areas. Similar is the case in other district’s headquarters, peri-urban areas adjacent to the headquarters and important towns which have high potential for development.
Each proposal for land consolidation will be sent to the HMDA for due diligence. The civic body will examine and process them within a maximum of four weeks from the receipt. Further, all common lands in the layout should mandatorily be registered in the name of HMDA, UDAs or ULBs. The layout could be an integrated township, a purely residential layout or one with mixed utilities. The lands, after their development, will be auctioned on a per-square-yard basis.