Town Planning Acts and Analysis of Delhi

and Mumbai Town Planning Acts

Poonam Prakash, Ph.D.

Professor and Head
Department of Physical Planning
School of Planning and
Architecture, New Delhi
Significance of Town Planning Law

• Control over Use of Land –

Statutory Plans and Zoning
Regulations
– Land Allocation
– Control of nature and
extent of land
• Nuisance Law to Laws for
improvement Schemes to
laws for Comprehensive
Planning and Development
• Planning, Development,
Disposal, Management
 • Legal and Institutional legacies of
colonial rule
– 1864 – 94 Sanitary Commissions for
Bombay, Bengal and Madras
– 1898 – Bombay improvement Trust
– 1918 – Bombay Town Planning Act
– 1936 – Bombay improvement trust
Context Before merges with Bombay Municipal
Independence corporation
• Health Survey and Development
Committee in 1943, Bhore committee,
– for surveying health conditions in
connection with the post-war
reconstruction plans –
recommended Town planning
legislation
 the Central Public separated the next the Ministry of
Works Department year as the Central Health constituted
(CPWD) at Delhi Planning Office an enquiry
established a town headed by the committee to
planning section, American planner
review the working
Albert Meyer
of Delhi

Urban Planning Improvement Trust.

The six-member
committee was
after headed by G.D.
Birla. –

Independence Recommended
Comprehensive
Planning

1947 1948 1950

First Five-year Plan proposed enactment of

Town Planning legislation
 • Key approaches to planning
– Comprehensive Planning and New Towns
• 1954 – Maharashtra Town Planning Act –
Comprehensive Planning
• 1957 – Delhi Development Act
• 1960 Central Government published a model
Town and Country Planning Act – Comprehensive
Planning
• 1966 -Maharashtra enacted the first Regional and
Institutionalization Town Planning Act in the country superseding the
1954 legislation – Introduced Regional Planning
of Town Planning

Bombay and Delhi demonstrate different variations of

legal and institutional framework for planning and
development functions post independence

As of 2016, according to TCPO 2631 master plans have

been prepared.
 Expansion of Town
Planning Law
• By the end of First Five-Year plan, four
major states had already enacted
relevant town and country planning
legislation.

• Both Second and Third Plan reiterated

the need to enact town and country
planning legislation in all other states
to facilitate preparation of master
plans. It also suggested establishment
of regional planning authority by
instituting a suitable legal framework.

• By the end of first two decades after

independence fifty percent of the
states had enacted town planning
legislation
 PLANNING LAND ASSEMBLY AND
DEVELOPMENT

Improvement trusts

Preparation of Assembly through

Improvement Land Reconstitution
Schemes or Land Acquisition
Pre-Independence

Post-Independence
Development Authority and
Town Planning Departments Parastatals
Model 1

Development Authority or Improvement Trusts undertake

Model 2 both planning and development

Zonal Plans Assembly through Land

Preparation of Reconstitution or Bulk
Detail Development Plans
Comprehensive Plans Land Acquisition
Town Planning Scheme
 Delhi and Mumbai
Town Planning Law
• Decision making bodies
• Plan Preparation
• Approval and Notification
• Land Assembly

• Delhi – Delhi Development Act 1957

• Mumbai – Maharashtra Regional and
town Planning Act 1966
 Mumbai Delhi

Regional Plan (Prepared by

Regional Plan (prepared by the
the MMRDA within the
NCRPB under separate Act)
MRTP)
Plan Hierarchy
Development Plan Development Plan (Prepared
by the DDA)

Town Planning Scheme Zonal Plan

Decision-making Bodies – Regional Level
Regional Planning Board
• Chairman appointed by the State
Government;
• the Director of Town Planning (or
a person nominated by him);
• Four persons - members of local
authorities such
• ten persons - special knowledge
or practical experience of matters
relating to town and country
planning, engineering, transport,
industry, commerce, or
agriculture 2
• Town Planning Officer appointed
by the State Government and
• Four persons - from the two
Houses of the State Legislature
21 – 12 T, 4 ES, 4 EL, 1 B
National Capital Region Planning Board
• the Union Minister for Works and
Housing, who shall be the Chairman of the
Board ;
• the Chief Minister of the State of Haryana
;
• the Chief Minister of the State of
Rajasthan ;
• the Chief Minister of the State of Uttar
Pradesh ;
• the Administrator of the Union territory ;
• eight members, to be nominated by the
Central Government
• three other members of whom one shall
be a person having knowledge and
experience in town planning to be
nominated by the Central Government.
• a full-time Member-Secretary of the
Board, to be nominated by the Central
Government from amongst officers of, or
above, the rank of a Joint Secretary to the
Government of India ;
17 – 1 T, 4 E and 1N, 8 T/B , 3 B
4355 sq.km 55000 sq.km
Decision Making Bodies – City Level
Municipal Corporation of Greater
Mumbai
• Ward Councillers (elected) and
nominated
• Chairman who shall be the 2[Lieutenant
Governor] of the 3[National Capital Territory
of Delhi], ex officio;
• Vice-chairman
• Finance and accounts member
• an engineer member
• two representatives of that Corporation to
be elected by the councillors
• three representatives of the Legislative
Assembly of the National Capital Territory of
Delhi - two shall be from among the ruling
party and one from the party in opposition to
the Government:
• three other persons to be nominated by the
Central Government, of whom one shall be a
person with experience of town planning or
architecture; and]
• the Commisioner of the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi, ex officio.
• Plan preparation
and modification
• Plan Approval
• Land Development
 Land MUMBAI
• Through town
DELHI
• Through Large Scale
Assembly •
planning scheme
Land Acquisition •
Acquisition
Now Land Pooling