Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday announced the regularization of 210 unauthorized colonies. This includes 103 colonies from the Department of Town and Country Planning and 107 colonies from the Urban Local Bodies Department.

Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said that the state government has set the final deadline of January 31, 2024, to complete the notification of all 2274 unauthorized colonies in the state. Basic amenities such as roads, sewerage, water supply, and streetlights will be provided to the residents.

However, earlier, giving a big relief to the residents residing in these colonies, the Chief Minister had announced to regularize of such colonies. So far, 1883 colonies have been regularized.

Highlighting a significant contrast between the present state government and Congress, the Chief Minister shared that during the 10-year tenure of the Congress government; only 874 unauthorized colonies were regularized, whereas our government has regularized a total of 1673 colonies. With the addition of today's 210 colonies, a total of 1883 colonies will be regularized, said Khattar.

He further shared that a team, formed under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner and District Municipal Commissioner, is overseeing the work of regularizing colonies. Drones or satellite imagery will be used for regular surveillance to control the increasing number of unauthorized colonies. Orders for TCP and No Due Certificates (NDC) are being issued to keep a close vigil on the mushrooming of illegal encroachment in unauthorized colonies and prevent the registries of such properties. This measure will be applied on the NDC portal to control the increasing number of unauthorized colonies, said the Chief Minister.

Soon Hry to have its ‘State Anthem’

Khattar said that soon Haryana will have its ‘State Anthem. A proposal in this regard will be presented in the winter session of the Legislative Assembly starting from Friday. The Chief Minister said that through various competitions, the government has selected 3 songs, and all three songs will be tabled in the House. The song with the highest votes will be declared the state anthem for one year. “After our government came to power, we ensured that at least 3 sessions of the Vidhan Sabha, i.e. Budget Session, Monsoon Session and Winter Session are called so that legislators get more opportunities to participate. In the previous government, only 2 sessions were called,” said Khattar.

Farmers compensated for loss

Khattar digitally disbursed a compensation amount of Rs 97,93,26,000 to 34,511 farmers who have suffered loss due to the devastating impact of heavy rainfall and floods that wreaked havoc in July across 12 districts in the state. The Chief Minister said that the compensation encompasses an area of 49,197 acres, which had been re-sown, with a rate of Rs 7,000 per acre. He said that the compensation given does not include the cotton crop as the survey is still going on.  He said that this compensation has been given for crop losses ranging from 25 percent to 100 percent. About Rs 12.81 crore compensation has been given in Ambala district, Rs 18.65 crore in Fatehabad, Rs 26.95 crore in Kurukshetra, Rs 23.60 lakh in Bhiwani, Rs 5.57 crore in Charkhi Dadri, Rs 1.35 crore in Faridabad, Rs 15.43 lakh in Hisar, Rs 1.48 crore in Jhajjar, Rs 9.89 lakh in Jind, Rs 7.99 crore in Kaithal, Rs 3.09 crore in Karnal, Rs 10.78 crore in Mahendragarh and  Rs 5.40 crore in Palwal. Similarly, an amount of Rs 53000 has been given in Mewat, Rs 23.31 lakh in Panchkula, Rs 19.88 lakh in Panipat,  Rs. 2.53 crore in Rohtak, Rs 3.20 crore in Sirsa, Rs 5.15 crore in Sonipat, Rs 2.61 crore in Yamunanagar and Rs 7 lakh in Rewari.

Announces closure of 8 toll plazas

Khattar announced the closure of 8 toll plazas located in the state. This strategic move is set to bring relief to the general public. The Chief Minister said that with this decision, the public would save Rs 22.48 crore annually. These include seven toll plazas operated by the Public Works Department. The toll plazas which will cease operations include Teokad toll plaza in Kurukshetra district to the Pehowa-Patiala Punjab border on State Highway-19, three toll plazas on Saundh, Charoda, and Pathredi road on Hodal Nuh-Patoda Pataudi road, Rai-Nahra-Barota, and Bamnoli toll plazas on Bahadurgarh road, Sunhera toll plazas up to Punhana-Jurhera Rajasthan border, and Bandhwadi, Crusher Zone, Pakhal, Nurera toll plazas on Faridabad and Ballabhgarh Sohna road. In additoin, Alipur Tigra and Biwan toll plazas on Firozpur Jhirka Biwan road will also cease operation. This decision provides relief to the public saving Rs 22.48 crore annually.