Govt to mull expansion of National Capital Region

NEW DELHI: After the demands raised by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan to the NCR Planning Board, the Centre will consider the inclusion of Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Mathura and Bharatpur in the National Capital Region (NCR)

The minister of state for urban development Saugata Roy, in a written reply to Lok Sabha, said that these demands will be examined by a study group constituted for review and revision of regional plan-2021 for NCR.

“The matter will be considered by the Board after the examination by the study group,” the minister said.

Responding the query raised by three MPs that whether there are any laid down norms for extension of the NCR, the minister said that while there is no such norm, the study group on policy zone, demographic profile and settlement pattern constituted by NCRPB had recommended not to extend the region at least upto 2021.

The study group had explained that the existing NCR “has not developed as envisaged and any extension will amount to spreading of scarce financial resources thinly.”

The study group had proposed the NCR boundary should coincide with the district boundary of Alwar. According to NCRPB officials this recommendation was accepted by the Board and entire 7,829 sq km of Alwar was included in the region. Earlier only 4,493 km of Alwar was part of NCR.