Madhya Pradesh amends Rule 37 of land development rules, bars malls and multiplexes in utility zones

The Urban Development and Housing Department in Madhya Pradesh has amended Rule 37 of the Madhya Pradesh Bhumi Vikas Rules, 2012. The amendment specifies which activities will and will not be allowed in different land use zones. It was issued on November 5.

Under the new rules, activities in each land use zone will generally be treated as permitted, except those on the restricted list for that zone. Separate restrictions have been set for residential, commercial, industrial, public and semi-public, public utility, traffic and transport, mixed, and recreational and green zones.

The amended rules also allow mixed use of land and buildings, both horizontally and vertically. Even so, the restricted activities of the land use zone concerned must be followed.

A special provision has been made for residential zones on 24-metre roads. On plots in approved residential colonies that front a main road 24 metres wide or more, permitted commercial activities can be carried on, except restricted ones.

In residential zones, storage of arms and ammunition, asphalt mixing plants, brick kilns, cremation and burial grounds, concrete batching plants, dairy and poultry industries, e-waste processing, explosives and firecracker manufacturing, gas godowns, heavy manufacturing industries, mining, stone crushers and scrap storage will be barred. Observatories, storage of petrol and inflammable materials, polluting industries, transport and truck terminals, and wholesale trade will also be restricted.

In commercial zones, heavy industry, storage of hazardous chemicals, explosives manufacturing, mining, scrap yards, observatories, ready-mix concrete plants and solid waste landfills will be barred. Activities restricted in residential zones cannot be carried on here either.

In industrial zones, residential use will be restricted, except for permitted staff housing. Schools and colleges, hospitals for infectious diseases, oil storage depots, pig rearing, prisons, warehouses, wholesale storage, heritage conservation activities and environmentally sensitive uses, among other specified activities, will also be barred.

In public and semi-public zones, heavy industrial activity, mining, oil depots, storage of radioactive materials and polluting industries will be prohibited. In public utility zones, shopping malls, multiplexes, heavy manufacturing industries and residential use will not be allowed.

In the traffic and transport zone, residential activity, schools and colleges, hospitals, commercial activity, mining and solid waste landfills will be restricted. In agricultural land use zones, commercial activity, heavy industry, residential use, shopping malls and polluting industries cannot operate. In the recreational and green zone, land use will be permitted only as per the specified list.