BREAKING NEWS
Very recently, the J&K Government notified and approved the land pooling policy (LPP) to streamline urban development and bring in the semblance of planned development after seeking public opinion about the myriad provisions of the policy. The policy aims to address land fragmentation, inadequate infrastructure, unplanned urban expansion, and uneven economic development. It targets creating well-planned urban spaces that meet the needs of the growing population, foster economic growth, and preserve the region's environmental and cultural integrity. It also emphasises collaboration between landowners, private developers, and the government to achieve common goals. It incorporates and envisages robust regulatory frameworks and safeguards to address environmental concerns. The policy has been framed by the consultants and is expected to transform urban areas into modern, livable, and economically vibrant spaces.
Land Pooling Scheme vs Town Planning Scheme/Land Acquisition
Land Pooling Schemes and Land Acquisition/Town Planning Schemes (TPS) are two methods for urban development. Land Acquisition/TPS involves the government purchasing land for public projects, leading to disputes and delays. On the other hand, the land pooling scheme involves pooling small parcels voluntarily for infrastructure development, providing fair compensation, and improving urban planning. While land acquisition is direct but contentious, land pooling is participatory but complex, requiring effective collaboration and planning. Land pooling reduces resistance and litigation due to its voluntary nature, whereas land acquisition can result in displacement and inadequate compensation. Overall, land pooling can lead to better outcomes for landowners with the necessary infrastructure, while land acquisition is faster but can be controversial. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, impacting the effectiveness of urban development and infrastructure projects. In the land acquisition process, landowners and peri-urban farmers have to compulsorily give away their land to the government for the urban development of the city. Land pooling, on the other hand, is a scheme where the government encourages landowners, farmers, groups, or consortiums to voluntarily pool their land for urban planning and development in cities. Land acquisition/TPS being a compulsory process, landowners do not receive any benefit from giving away their land for urban development except the compensation at the prevalent rate, while in the case of land pooling, landowners or farmers become part of the city development, receive significant financial benefit in terms of increased value of the property, and have the opportunity to retain part of the developed land in exchange for voluntarily offering the land. The land pooling also provides for retaining ownership of the land, which is obtained after detailed planning for the land pooling. They are also allowed to control the development on the land retained, while in the case of TPS or land acquisition, it is the government that has control over development.
Land Pooling Scheme: Experiences
Urban land pooling is a method used to develop urban fringe areas by consolidating separate landholdings. It has been successful in countries like Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In India, land pooling has gained popularity as an alternative to traditional land acquisition, offering benefits like fair compensation and stakeholder involvement. States like Gujarat and Maharashtra have successfully implemented land pooling schemes. It is essential for large-scale urban development and requires market demand for developed land. Legal support and policy frameworks are crucial for defining roles in the process. Land pooling offers benefits such as stakeholder involvement, financial sustainability, and flexibility in land management. By adopting land pooling, cities can streamline development and ensure fair compensation for landowners. Effective policies involve viewing land pooling as a development tool, clear communication, and defining benefits upfront. Stakeholder discontent can be avoided through communication and valuing existing land structures. The policy in Gujarat reconstitutes land parcels rather than pooling them. The development of city-level infrastructure can be enhanced through the implementation of land pooling. It shifts the planning paradigm from compulsory acquisition to voluntary participation by making landowners partners in development. The policy has the potential to set an example for fast-paced development under urbanisation pressure, especially in the two major cities of Jammu and Kashmir. However, a comprehensive outreach program is needed to assess practical impediments during implementation and make the policy framing process inclusive and realistic. India’s path to becoming an infrastructural giant was riddled with an ongoing tussle between authorities and landowners. The enactment of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR, 2013) (called the Land Acquisition Act from now on) in 2013 brought some relief. However, disputes related to irregular, insufficient compensation and alleged forced acquisition compelled the States to find an alternative, and the Land Pooling Act emerged as a favourite choice. As land acquisition and requisitioning of land come under the concurrent list, many states have notified their respective Land Pooling Acts.
India's urban population has reached 498 million, accounting for 36% of the total population of 1.467 billion. The country has experienced rapid urban growth over the past century, making it the second-largest urban system globally. However, this growth has outpaced planning efforts, impacting the urban living environment negatively. The implementation of Master Plans in various towns and cities has had mixed success, with some development schemes proving successful in certain states. The Town Planning Scheme, utilising land pooling, has been effectively implemented in several states, enabling planned and orderly urban development without compulsory land acquisition. India now has over 35 cities with populations over a million, accounting for a third of the urban population. Urbanisation is expected to rise to 45–50% by 2050, posing challenges in land management due to natural increases and migration. Urban planning in India operates at the central, state, and local levels. The Central Government sets urban planning policies, with agencies like TCPO and HUDCO providing technical assistance. State Town Planning Acts govern planning at the state level, with state town and country planning departments preparing master plans and regional schemes. Local bodies, like municipal corporations, oversee planning at the local level. The Master Plan/DDevelopment Plan approach is crucial in Indian urban planning, allocating land for different uses, proposing road networks, and identifying conservation areas. Zonal Development Plans and Town Planning Schemes provide detailed guidelines for implementation.
Different states in India and abroad have unique approaches to urban planning. Gujarat uses land readjustment, while Amravati uses pooling to acquire land for a new capital. Germany's state-initiated land pooling contrasts with Delhi's proposed mandatory pooling amendments. Effective urban planning is essential for India's economic growth and positive urbanization. With urbanisation expected to rise significantly, addressing challenges like land management and infrastructure development will be crucial to ensuring sustainable growth and development in urban areas. The land pooling scheme in Delhi, initiated by the DDA, is facing challenges due to the holdout problem and lack of participation from landowners. Only 20 out of 138 sectors have reached the 70% land threshold required for development consortiums, highlighting difficulties in demonstrating the benefits of pooling land. Landowners are burdened with resolving collective action issues, resulting in slow progress and conflicts. The DDA's policy faces further obstacles with unauthorised construction in urban villages and rigid land use distribution. To address these challenges, innovative approaches like public-private partnerships and flexible zoning regulations are being considered. The policy aims to engage landowners as development partners and facilitate planning through sector-based zoning. Despite stakeholder concerns, the policy is expected to impact urban land development in Delhi significantly, potentially setting a precedent for rapid development in metropolitan areas.
Land Pooling Policy
The land pooling policy framed by the consultants aims to shift towards empowering the private sector and landowners, with flexibility in land use distribution and development regulations at the local level. This approach intends to simplify the implementation process and facilitate planned city-level infrastructure development. The policy seeks to transform the planning paradigm from compulsory acquisition to voluntary participation, making landowners partners in development. By enabling negotiations with private developers, the policy aims to optimise urban development and alleviate financial constraints faced by urban bodies. This innovative strategy offers a solution to the challenges of urbanisation, particularly in major urban centres like J&K. However, a comprehensive outreach program is necessary to assess potential operational hurdles and ensure a realistic and inclusive policy framework. The Land Pooling Act emerges as a promising alternative to the contentious issues surrounding land acquisition, offering a smoother path to infrastructural development in India.
Land pooling has the potential to take up planned development on a large scale for implementation, which was hitherto missing. Hence, the policy has the potential to set an example for fast-paced land development under the pressure of urbanisation, especially in the Jammu metropolitan area. However, to understand the responses of the stakeholders, including unorganised or organised developers and perspective beneficiaries, a comprehensive outreach program may be required to assess the operational and practical impediments that may arise in the course of its implementation. It would also provide an opportunity to make the policy framing process inclusive and realistic.
Land is scarce but a vital requirement for development, especially for large urban development projects, as such, it needs to be judiciously utilised and harnessed. It is already a costly commodity and an aspect of urban development. If it is allowed to develop in an unintended manner, cost geometrics may make rectification of the same impossible, which would be critical for sustainable development, climate change, and the future. Therefore, all endeavours have to be focused on enriching its use. The land pooling scheme is one such effort for this purpose, which aims to streamline urban expansion and development.
Urban Planning and Policy Scenario
To date, land acquisition, town planning schemes, land readjustment and sharing mechanisms, negotiated land acquisition, and private-public partnerships have been part and parcel of the land use policy of every master plan. Srinagar and Jammu cities are at present having third-generation master plans, and planning activity in most of the cities and towns of J&K has been limited to the formulation of the perspective plan, i.e., master plans. Zonal plans, which are an are an inescapable part of the planning process and imperative for the execution of master plans, have remained an indispensible link in the urban planning and development of J&K till date. As a consequence, master plans have not achieved their goals, resulting in tardy implementation and widespread chaos in cities and towns. In the process, areas earmarked for TPS were never acquired by the government, instead leading to an embargo on development in these areas, forcing urban expansion to suburbs, free from urban development controls. It has added more woes to everyone: cities, citizens, and the urban administration. On the one hand, it forced the government to extend service and amenities beyond urbanisable areas and extend city limits frequently to undesirable limits; on the other hand, it increased the daily commute distance of the people, especially the urban poor, and development in ecologically fragile areas. The proposal of the master plan and the incomplete planning process have acted as a double-edged sword for the cities and towns of J&K. As such, while framing any policy for urban planning and development, caution is a must to understand the pros and cons of the policy through analytical and objective evaluation to avoid harm to its urban fabric, nature, and ecology. At present, Srinagar and Jammu cities are going through metropolitan morphosis and are at the threshold of the urban development stage, where each lapse is going to prove immensely costly altogether.
The land pooling policy framed and approved for J&K has nothing wrong with it for purposes of shaping future urban development; however, it needs to be practically implemented on the ground to truly yield the desired results. If it is limited to urban policy proposals only, urban centres are going to have repulsive expansion, abhorrent to every aspect of urban life. Therefore, it would necessitate a higher level of cooperation and coordination among the landowners, which is customarily and exceedingly difficult. City administration agencies in charge of urban planning and development need to manage the complex processes involved in its implementation, facilitate to overcome potential reluctance and hesitancy from land owners, navigate on a fast-track basis legal provisions, and complete comprehensively along with zonal planning of cities and towns to avoid procedural delays and legal hurdles for smooth implementation of the of the LPS scheme. Land, being predominantly a state subject and a scarce and costly commodity, is a cherished individual possession of every urbanite. The land holding size is depressing in most of the towns and cities; therefore, while earmarking or envisaging areas for land pooling, full care needs to be given to the realistic disposition and implementation of LPS without delay. The proposals shall intrinsically promote “ease of doing business” for LPS and provide for legislative reforms facilitating convergence between state and centre and the participation of individuals in the process. Besides, it may require robust regulations to encourage inclusive and participatory planning and tech-driven accountability. The success of LPS will greatly depend on the activities and involvement of state agencies, clear communication, incentives, and an institutional framework. If people fail or refuse to come together as a group or consortium and do not offer land for LPS or for the required purpose, The land will have to be acquired for the required public purpose and ensure the planned development of cities and towns and the provision of infrastructure in the zone or sector where land pooling is applicable.
Generally, zonal plans are framed soon after the formulation of master plans to specify the disposition or location of activities within the urbanizable limits of city extension. J&K has a very poor record of detailing out master plans into zonal plans, and planning activities have remained limited to the formulation of master plans in a master plans in a few cities and towns. Zonal development plans are imperative for the identification and execution of LPPs and master plans. These are vital for the enforcement implementation of urban development plans. Zonal plans detail and specify the disposition of infrastructure and facilities in use zones designated generally for the nine categories of land uses depicted in master plans. In accordance with the zonal plans, LPS is to be conceived and finally developed.
Bottom Line
The land-pooling policy framed integrally has nothing wrong with it. Since the scheme is left to the stakeholder to come together and be involved in the process, it might prove a herculean task to realise and accomplish. Urban fringe farmers, despite the benefits of the scheme, are likely to lose their source of livelihood, which may make it difficult for them to pool land. Therefore, the government needs to oversee the scheme at all levels, along with allowing incentives to fringe farmers and providing additional benefits through convergence for building confidence in the scheme, ensure its success, and shape urban J&K. In addition, envisaging the land pooling areas in the master plans shall be carried out rationally, realistically, and analytically to ensure LP schemes take off in the interest of the urban development of J&K.
Email:--------------------- hamwani24@gmail.com
Very recently, the J&K Government notified and approved the land pooling policy (LPP) to streamline urban development and bring in the semblance of planned development after seeking public opinion about the myriad provisions of the policy. The policy aims to address land fragmentation, inadequate infrastructure, unplanned urban expansion, and uneven economic development. It targets creating well-planned urban spaces that meet the needs of the growing population, foster economic growth, and preserve the region's environmental and cultural integrity. It also emphasises collaboration between landowners, private developers, and the government to achieve common goals. It incorporates and envisages robust regulatory frameworks and safeguards to address environmental concerns. The policy has been framed by the consultants and is expected to transform urban areas into modern, livable, and economically vibrant spaces.
Land Pooling Scheme vs Town Planning Scheme/Land Acquisition
Land Pooling Schemes and Land Acquisition/Town Planning Schemes (TPS) are two methods for urban development. Land Acquisition/TPS involves the government purchasing land for public projects, leading to disputes and delays. On the other hand, the land pooling scheme involves pooling small parcels voluntarily for infrastructure development, providing fair compensation, and improving urban planning. While land acquisition is direct but contentious, land pooling is participatory but complex, requiring effective collaboration and planning. Land pooling reduces resistance and litigation due to its voluntary nature, whereas land acquisition can result in displacement and inadequate compensation. Overall, land pooling can lead to better outcomes for landowners with the necessary infrastructure, while land acquisition is faster but can be controversial. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, impacting the effectiveness of urban development and infrastructure projects. In the land acquisition process, landowners and peri-urban farmers have to compulsorily give away their land to the government for the urban development of the city. Land pooling, on the other hand, is a scheme where the government encourages landowners, farmers, groups, or consortiums to voluntarily pool their land for urban planning and development in cities. Land acquisition/TPS being a compulsory process, landowners do not receive any benefit from giving away their land for urban development except the compensation at the prevalent rate, while in the case of land pooling, landowners or farmers become part of the city development, receive significant financial benefit in terms of increased value of the property, and have the opportunity to retain part of the developed land in exchange for voluntarily offering the land. The land pooling also provides for retaining ownership of the land, which is obtained after detailed planning for the land pooling. They are also allowed to control the development on the land retained, while in the case of TPS or land acquisition, it is the government that has control over development.
Land Pooling Scheme: Experiences
Urban land pooling is a method used to develop urban fringe areas by consolidating separate landholdings. It has been successful in countries like Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In India, land pooling has gained popularity as an alternative to traditional land acquisition, offering benefits like fair compensation and stakeholder involvement. States like Gujarat and Maharashtra have successfully implemented land pooling schemes. It is essential for large-scale urban development and requires market demand for developed land. Legal support and policy frameworks are crucial for defining roles in the process. Land pooling offers benefits such as stakeholder involvement, financial sustainability, and flexibility in land management. By adopting land pooling, cities can streamline development and ensure fair compensation for landowners. Effective policies involve viewing land pooling as a development tool, clear communication, and defining benefits upfront. Stakeholder discontent can be avoided through communication and valuing existing land structures. The policy in Gujarat reconstitutes land parcels rather than pooling them. The development of city-level infrastructure can be enhanced through the implementation of land pooling. It shifts the planning paradigm from compulsory acquisition to voluntary participation by making landowners partners in development. The policy has the potential to set an example for fast-paced development under urbanisation pressure, especially in the two major cities of Jammu and Kashmir. However, a comprehensive outreach program is needed to assess practical impediments during implementation and make the policy framing process inclusive and realistic. India’s path to becoming an infrastructural giant was riddled with an ongoing tussle between authorities and landowners. The enactment of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR, 2013) (called the Land Acquisition Act from now on) in 2013 brought some relief. However, disputes related to irregular, insufficient compensation and alleged forced acquisition compelled the States to find an alternative, and the Land Pooling Act emerged as a favourite choice. As land acquisition and requisitioning of land come under the concurrent list, many states have notified their respective Land Pooling Acts.
India's urban population has reached 498 million, accounting for 36% of the total population of 1.467 billion. The country has experienced rapid urban growth over the past century, making it the second-largest urban system globally. However, this growth has outpaced planning efforts, impacting the urban living environment negatively. The implementation of Master Plans in various towns and cities has had mixed success, with some development schemes proving successful in certain states. The Town Planning Scheme, utilising land pooling, has been effectively implemented in several states, enabling planned and orderly urban development without compulsory land acquisition. India now has over 35 cities with populations over a million, accounting for a third of the urban population. Urbanisation is expected to rise to 45–50% by 2050, posing challenges in land management due to natural increases and migration. Urban planning in India operates at the central, state, and local levels. The Central Government sets urban planning policies, with agencies like TCPO and HUDCO providing technical assistance. State Town Planning Acts govern planning at the state level, with state town and country planning departments preparing master plans and regional schemes. Local bodies, like municipal corporations, oversee planning at the local level. The Master Plan/DDevelopment Plan approach is crucial in Indian urban planning, allocating land for different uses, proposing road networks, and identifying conservation areas. Zonal Development Plans and Town Planning Schemes provide detailed guidelines for implementation.
Different states in India and abroad have unique approaches to urban planning. Gujarat uses land readjustment, while Amravati uses pooling to acquire land for a new capital. Germany's state-initiated land pooling contrasts with Delhi's proposed mandatory pooling amendments. Effective urban planning is essential for India's economic growth and positive urbanization. With urbanisation expected to rise significantly, addressing challenges like land management and infrastructure development will be crucial to ensuring sustainable growth and development in urban areas. The land pooling scheme in Delhi, initiated by the DDA, is facing challenges due to the holdout problem and lack of participation from landowners. Only 20 out of 138 sectors have reached the 70% land threshold required for development consortiums, highlighting difficulties in demonstrating the benefits of pooling land. Landowners are burdened with resolving collective action issues, resulting in slow progress and conflicts. The DDA's policy faces further obstacles with unauthorised construction in urban villages and rigid land use distribution. To address these challenges, innovative approaches like public-private partnerships and flexible zoning regulations are being considered. The policy aims to engage landowners as development partners and facilitate planning through sector-based zoning. Despite stakeholder concerns, the policy is expected to impact urban land development in Delhi significantly, potentially setting a precedent for rapid development in metropolitan areas.
Land Pooling Policy
The land pooling policy framed by the consultants aims to shift towards empowering the private sector and landowners, with flexibility in land use distribution and development regulations at the local level. This approach intends to simplify the implementation process and facilitate planned city-level infrastructure development. The policy seeks to transform the planning paradigm from compulsory acquisition to voluntary participation, making landowners partners in development. By enabling negotiations with private developers, the policy aims to optimise urban development and alleviate financial constraints faced by urban bodies. This innovative strategy offers a solution to the challenges of urbanisation, particularly in major urban centres like J&K. However, a comprehensive outreach program is necessary to assess potential operational hurdles and ensure a realistic and inclusive policy framework. The Land Pooling Act emerges as a promising alternative to the contentious issues surrounding land acquisition, offering a smoother path to infrastructural development in India.
Land pooling has the potential to take up planned development on a large scale for implementation, which was hitherto missing. Hence, the policy has the potential to set an example for fast-paced land development under the pressure of urbanisation, especially in the Jammu metropolitan area. However, to understand the responses of the stakeholders, including unorganised or organised developers and perspective beneficiaries, a comprehensive outreach program may be required to assess the operational and practical impediments that may arise in the course of its implementation. It would also provide an opportunity to make the policy framing process inclusive and realistic.
Land is scarce but a vital requirement for development, especially for large urban development projects, as such, it needs to be judiciously utilised and harnessed. It is already a costly commodity and an aspect of urban development. If it is allowed to develop in an unintended manner, cost geometrics may make rectification of the same impossible, which would be critical for sustainable development, climate change, and the future. Therefore, all endeavours have to be focused on enriching its use. The land pooling scheme is one such effort for this purpose, which aims to streamline urban expansion and development.
Urban Planning and Policy Scenario
To date, land acquisition, town planning schemes, land readjustment and sharing mechanisms, negotiated land acquisition, and private-public partnerships have been part and parcel of the land use policy of every master plan. Srinagar and Jammu cities are at present having third-generation master plans, and planning activity in most of the cities and towns of J&K has been limited to the formulation of the perspective plan, i.e., master plans. Zonal plans, which are an are an inescapable part of the planning process and imperative for the execution of master plans, have remained an indispensible link in the urban planning and development of J&K till date. As a consequence, master plans have not achieved their goals, resulting in tardy implementation and widespread chaos in cities and towns. In the process, areas earmarked for TPS were never acquired by the government, instead leading to an embargo on development in these areas, forcing urban expansion to suburbs, free from urban development controls. It has added more woes to everyone: cities, citizens, and the urban administration. On the one hand, it forced the government to extend service and amenities beyond urbanisable areas and extend city limits frequently to undesirable limits; on the other hand, it increased the daily commute distance of the people, especially the urban poor, and development in ecologically fragile areas. The proposal of the master plan and the incomplete planning process have acted as a double-edged sword for the cities and towns of J&K. As such, while framing any policy for urban planning and development, caution is a must to understand the pros and cons of the policy through analytical and objective evaluation to avoid harm to its urban fabric, nature, and ecology. At present, Srinagar and Jammu cities are going through metropolitan morphosis and are at the threshold of the urban development stage, where each lapse is going to prove immensely costly altogether.
The land pooling policy framed and approved for J&K has nothing wrong with it for purposes of shaping future urban development; however, it needs to be practically implemented on the ground to truly yield the desired results. If it is limited to urban policy proposals only, urban centres are going to have repulsive expansion, abhorrent to every aspect of urban life. Therefore, it would necessitate a higher level of cooperation and coordination among the landowners, which is customarily and exceedingly difficult. City administration agencies in charge of urban planning and development need to manage the complex processes involved in its implementation, facilitate to overcome potential reluctance and hesitancy from land owners, navigate on a fast-track basis legal provisions, and complete comprehensively along with zonal planning of cities and towns to avoid procedural delays and legal hurdles for smooth implementation of the of the LPS scheme. Land, being predominantly a state subject and a scarce and costly commodity, is a cherished individual possession of every urbanite. The land holding size is depressing in most of the towns and cities; therefore, while earmarking or envisaging areas for land pooling, full care needs to be given to the realistic disposition and implementation of LPS without delay. The proposals shall intrinsically promote “ease of doing business” for LPS and provide for legislative reforms facilitating convergence between state and centre and the participation of individuals in the process. Besides, it may require robust regulations to encourage inclusive and participatory planning and tech-driven accountability. The success of LPS will greatly depend on the activities and involvement of state agencies, clear communication, incentives, and an institutional framework. If people fail or refuse to come together as a group or consortium and do not offer land for LPS or for the required purpose, The land will have to be acquired for the required public purpose and ensure the planned development of cities and towns and the provision of infrastructure in the zone or sector where land pooling is applicable.
Generally, zonal plans are framed soon after the formulation of master plans to specify the disposition or location of activities within the urbanizable limits of city extension. J&K has a very poor record of detailing out master plans into zonal plans, and planning activities have remained limited to the formulation of master plans in a master plans in a few cities and towns. Zonal development plans are imperative for the identification and execution of LPPs and master plans. These are vital for the enforcement implementation of urban development plans. Zonal plans detail and specify the disposition of infrastructure and facilities in use zones designated generally for the nine categories of land uses depicted in master plans. In accordance with the zonal plans, LPS is to be conceived and finally developed.
Bottom Line
The land-pooling policy framed integrally has nothing wrong with it. Since the scheme is left to the stakeholder to come together and be involved in the process, it might prove a herculean task to realise and accomplish. Urban fringe farmers, despite the benefits of the scheme, are likely to lose their source of livelihood, which may make it difficult for them to pool land. Therefore, the government needs to oversee the scheme at all levels, along with allowing incentives to fringe farmers and providing additional benefits through convergence for building confidence in the scheme, ensure its success, and shape urban J&K. In addition, envisaging the land pooling areas in the master plans shall be carried out rationally, realistically, and analytically to ensure LP schemes take off in the interest of the urban development of J&K.
Email:--------------------- hamwani24@gmail.com
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