Chandigarh: Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi on Saturday stated that urban policies and regulatory frameworks must evolve to address emerging challenges related to sustainability, infrastructure resilience, rapid urban expansion, and citizen expectations. He noted that the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 has significantly contributed to planned urban growth, infrastructure creation, and economic development over five decades, but emphasized that the time has come to take it to the next level.
Seminar on Town and Country Planning
Rastogi, while chairing the state-level seminar on town and country planning projects, stressed that coordinated efforts among government institutions, planners, and industry stakeholders are essential to ensure balanced, inclusive, and future-ready urban development across Haryana. The day-long roundtable was structured across three dedicated sessions.
Leaders Roundtable
The Leaders Roundtable featured chief secretary Rastogi alongside T L Satyaprakash, joint secretary, department of pharmaceuticals, Government of India; Amit Khatri, director, town and country planning, Haryana; and former senior officials S S Dhillon and T C Gupta. The session was moderated by former chief town planner Jaswant Singh.
Consensus on Modernizing the Act
Administrators, urban planners, and real estate leaders reached a collective consensus that the 1975 Act must be urgently modernized and strengthened to keep pace with the state's rapidly expanding urban landscape and evolving developmental needs. The consensus emerged at a high-level roundtable discussion organized by the Institute of Town Planners, India-Haryana Regional Chapter (ITPI-HRC) in Panchkula, held to mark 51 years of the landmark legislation that laid the foundation for planned urban development in Haryana through private sector participation.
