LUCKNOW: The UP housing department is contemplating to set up four new housing development authorities to promote planned development in Naimisharanya in Sitapur, Deoria, Farrukhabad and Barabanki.
While Barabanki is witnessing organic growth due to its proximity to Lucknow, Naimisharanya has been shortlisted strategically due to its religious importance. Similarly, Deoria and Farrukhabad have also seen increased real estate activity and development both in the core city area and on the peripheries.
Once a housing development authority is constituted, the construction activity is governed by standardised bylaws, and infrastructure also gets augmented. Otherwise, the building plans and maps are approved by the urban local bodies or gram panchayats concerned.
“But the approval process of houses and commercial establishments is done in a perfunctory way by urban and rural local bodies. The infrastructure and development of the area do not get scaled up in a proper manner as a result. Also, the approval process is done offline,” said a senior officer. The creation of an authority would transform the city layout and landscape with space earmarked for residential, commercial, office, green and open areas, and a widened road network among other futuristic needs of the local population.
With new building bylaws in place, the map approval process would take place in a transparent manner through the online building plan approval system in the four cities. Principal secretary of the housing department, P Guruprasad, said, “The proposals submitted before us for setting up new authorities are under consideration. A final decision would be taken accordingly after evaluating various factors.”
Plans to set up a housing development authority in Barabanki were first rolled out in Aug 2023. However, due to the inclusion of Barabanki district in the state capital region, the matter was put on hold. In Apr this year, the need to create a dedicated development authority in the neighbouring district was felt to regulate development within the urban limits of Barabanki.
“Operationalising the authority which would administer the state capital region would take some years. With rapid urbanisation and expansion taking place in Barabanki, particularly along the Lucknow-Barabanki national highway and Barabanki-Ayodhya national highway, the need to step in is being felt in order to check unplanned development,” said a senior officer from the housing department.
