By IANS,
Kolkata : A West Bengal official Wednesday defended the government’s decision not to repeal the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, an eyesore for developers, saying other states which repealed the law had failed to achieve desired results.
“West Bengal is perhaps the only state to have retained the act. But in the states where it has been repealed have the land prices come down, has the availability of land improved? On the contrary, the prices have gone up,” Debashis Sen, principal secretary, Urban Development Department, said.
With a view to prevent hoarding or excessive holding of land in urban areas, the act puts a ceiling limit on vacant land in a category ‘A’ city like Kolkata to 7.5 cottah or about 500 square meters beyond which one cannot hold land.
Sen, however, said the government was not averse to the idea of doing away with the legislation.
“We are not saying that we are averse to the idea but we exploring ways to optimise the benefits it has. When the opportune time comes, we will surely look into it,” Sen said.
The demand for repealing the Act was taken up for the first time by Godrej Properties Chairman Adi Godrej soon after Mamata Banerjee become the chief minister.