Meghalaya Cabinet okays amendment of building byelaws for sustainable urban development

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 9, 2024

The State Cabinet on Friday approved the amendments of the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2021.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, “We have approved some amendments to the Meghalaya Building Byelaws, 2021 for sustainable urban development in Meghalaya.”

“These amendments are being done in line with certain provisions and certain conditions that have been put in by government of India and also to ensure overall safety of the buildings that are there and also to ensure the smaller land holdings, there could be more utilization of the land by small land owners because earlier there were some restrictions in terms of the gap that you have to leave from the front and the rear and the sides – and so that has been reduced.”

The CM said no building permission will be given for land that has a fifty degree slope or above. “The building cannot be constructed keeping in mind the safety of the building,” he said. He said that for buildings that are 40 degree and above, there are also certain restrictions that will be put in terms of the height and the space one can occupy.

Sangma further informed that buildings above 27 metres will have to come for permission from the government.

“if the building is above 27 metres, they have to come to the government to take approval so that has been approved. Earlier, it was 40 metres, now it has been reduced to 27 metres (height of the building),” he said.

According to him, the amendments also seek to give more space to people to construct their buildings by minimizing the land and the gap between the  boundary wall.

“We are creating much more planned and safer building constructions keeping in mind the different situations that are being faced in different parts of the country and the world and trying to see this law can come in so that it can make the buildings safer in the long run,” Sangma said.

The chief minister said that the byelaws have to a great extent helped check violations in building construction.