Darjeeling civic body to ban high-rises
Posted by barunroy on May 24, 2008
DARJEELING, May 23: The Darjeeling Municipality has decided to put a stop on the construction of high rises in the region. “In future we shall not sanction building plans beyond a height of 11.5 meters,” said chairman Mr Pemba Tshering. He has also requested the people to include a garage in their new building plans to meet the parking place constraint in the hill town.
Development activities and improvement of civic amenities have taken precedence in the new board formed under the GJMM. For one, the sewage project has been remodeled to include areas between Jorebunglow to Lebong. “A consultant from Delhi will survey the area and submit a report by the end of the month. Rs25 crores has already been sanctioned which will be utilised to improve the network and construct new sewage lines,” Mr Tshering informed.
In future, the municipality will work in collaboration with NGO’s in projects involving solid waste management and water harvesting. “A mechanical ropeway will be installed to dump the waste materials. A 30 acre area has been identified as the dumping ground,” Mr Tshering said adding that an amount of Rs 2 crores has been pegged for the same, 50 lakhs of which is sanctioned.
Considering the soil quality, the municipality is still judging the feasibility of water harvesting in the region. “The soil quality is being tested. However, we have spoken to NGO’s to start small water harvesting projects in the local areas so that water crisis is solved to some extent,” he said. [The Telegraph]
