The Khasi Hills Building and Structure Regulatory Authority (KHBSRA) has full powers to create building bye-laws and will finalise these in the interests of the public, Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Executive Member in charge of bye-laws Paul Lyngdoh said today.
The KHBSRA had been formed under the KHADC to implement bye-laws in areas of Khasi Hills and Ri-Bhoi that fall under its jurisdiction. Lyngdoh will be ex-officio Chairman of the KHBSRA, which will also comprise engineers, architects and three experts on buildings.
The authority’s remit will extend to tribal areas or council areas, excluding municipal and scheme areas as notified by the state government in February last year. That amounts to 96 per cent of the land in Khasi Hills and Ri-Bhoi, Lyngdoh said today.
Non-application or violation of bye-laws in areas under the KHADC had given rise to rampant mushrooming of hotels, guesthouses and homes on riverbanks, which has resulted in extreme flash flooding, such was seen in Umsning and other areas this year.
The KHBSRA’s bye-laws will use the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Land Development and Building Regulations of 2015 as a reference point, he said.
“I have also written officially to the state government stating that the KHBSRA will exercise its full authority in areas falling under the Greater Shillong Planning Area and areas not falling under the normal areas within the municipality,” he said, adding that the bye-laws will be notified in the government gazette so that they are widely circulated among the public.
