A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Board presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, said an official spokesman today.

The Board also approved the declaration of 16,642 hectares of land adjacent to S.A.S. Nagar as planning area under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995.

With this declaration, comprehensive perspective planning of the area will be possible and no change of land use will be permitted without permission of authorities.

The boundary roughly goes along the Kharar-Landran-Banur Road and touches the Rajpura-Zirakpur Highway near Chhatbir.

The Board also accepted the suggestion of Finance Minister Kanwaljit Singh to plan a comprehensive road network for S.A.S. Nagar joining it directly with Zirakpur, Banur and Landran, respectively.

The formal declaration will be instrumental in curbing activities of unscrupulous operators who are trying to carve out colonies in this eco-fragile region. A similar plan for Anandpur Sahib has also been approved. The Board has decided to declare land adjacent to the Science City on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar highway as planning area so as to curb the activity of unauthorised colonisers.

The Board has also decided to initiate a similar process for Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Moga, Muktsar, Nawanshahr and Faridkot.

To ensure proper enforcement of urban planning laws, the Chief Minister has directed the constitution of district-level committees headed by the Deputy Commissioner concerned to supervise the enforcement and coordinate efforts of PUDA, local bodies, PWD (B&R) and the Police Department.