JAMMU, Feb 13: In a written reply to legislator Sajad Gani Lone during the ongoing budget session, Chief Minister said the ratio of town planner to ULBs in Kashmir stands at 1:12 & the Town Planning Organization in Kashmir has just three town planners to cater to 40 Urban Local Bodies, indicating a severe shortage of technical staff in the department.
Responding to a query on whether NOCs from TPO are mandatory for execution of developmental works, the government said Section 203 of the Municipal Act 2000 and the J&K Unified Building Bye-laws 2021 mandate that no construction or material alteration of any building be carried out without sanction from the municipality.
It also cited Clause 2.18 of the J&K Building Bye-laws which requires NOCs from various departments including the Town Planning Organisation.
To another question on whether the government intends to deploy a Resident Architect or Engineer in each local body, the reply was in the negative. However, it said the Town Planning Organization has been reorganized to create a district cadre to support preparation and implementation of Master Plans for every town.
But strange to say that the reply did not indicate any timeline for filling the vacancies or augmenting the existing workforce.
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