Chapter I PRELIMINARY

-1 1. Short Title, Extent and Commencement. -

1. (1) This Act may be called Bihar Urban Planning and Development Act, 2012.
2. (2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Bihar or part thereof as may be notified by the State Government.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different areas of the State.

Definitions.-In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context:-

1. (I) . "Agriculture" includes horticulture, farming, raising of crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, grass, fodder, trees or any other kind of cultivation, dairy, animal husbandry, breeding and keeping of live-stock, including cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, fish, poultry and bees; and the use of land for any purpose which is ancillary to the farming of land or its cultivation or to any other agriculture purposes, but does not include the use of land attached to a building for the purposes of a garden to be used alongside such building, and the expression "Agricultural" shall be construed accordingly;
2. (II) . "Amenities" include all the supportive activities to the resident population as per the prevailing/prescribed norms such as roads and streets, open spaces, water and electric supply, street lighting, sewerage, drainage, nursery, crèche, all kinds of school, all categories of clinics and hospitals, community hall, library, convenience shopping, playfields, parks and playgrounds, green areas, police stations, public parking, bus station, fire station, post offices, essential EWS Housing for the resident population, area for informal sector, all the components necessary to facilitate barrier free accessibility for the senior citizens and physically challenged persons and other utilities, services and conveniences as may be delineated by the Government;
3. (III) . "Area” means the smaller unit divided for the purpose of preparing a development scheme or plan;
4. (IV) . "Area Development Scheme" means an area development scheme prepared under this Act;
5. (V) . "Area of Bad Layout or Obsolete Development" means an area consisting of land which is badly laid out or of obsolete development, together with other land contiguous or adjacent thereto, which is defined by a Development Plan as an Area of Bad Layout or Obsolete Development;
6. (VI) . "Appropriate Authority” in relation to a Planning Area, means the Planning Authority or the Bihar Urban Planning and Development Board or any other authority established or notified for that area by the Government including but not limited to the District Planning Committee, Metropolitan Planning Committee and relevant Local Authorities;
7. (VII) . "Board" means the Bihar Urban Planning and Development Board constituted under this Act;
8. (VIII) . "Building" includes any structure or part of a structure which is intended to be used for residential, industrial, commercial or other purposes whether in actual use or not, and compound wall or fencing thereof;
9. (IX) . "Building Operations" include

1. (a) erection or re-erection of a building, or any part of it;
2. (b) roofing, re-roofing of any part of a building or open space;
3. (c) any material alteration or enlargement of any building;
4. (d) any such alteration of a building as is likely to affect an alteration of its drainage or sanitary arrangements, or materially affect its security or basic structure;
5. (e) the constructions of a door opening on any street or land not belonging to the owner;
   • (X) . "Company" means a body corporate registered under the Companies Act, 1956;
   • (XI) . "Commerce" means carrying on any trade, business or profession, sale or exchange of goods of any type whatsoever, and includes the running of, with a view to making profit, hospital, nursing homes, infirmaries, educational institutions and also includes hotels, restaurant, boarding houses, not attached to any educational institution, sarai, banquet halls, marriage hall, guest houses, coaching institution, training centers, call centers, and the expression “Commercial” shall be construed accordingly;
   • (XII) . "Commercial Use" includes the use of any land or building or a part thereof for purposes of commerce as defined or for storage of goods, or as an office whether attached to industry or otherwise;
   • (XIII) . “Conversion” means the change of occupancy or institution or change of use of land in any manner whatsoever;
   • (XIV) . "Court" means any court empowered by the Government to perform the functions of the court under this Act, within the pecuniary and local limits of its jurisdiction;
   • (XV) . "Development" with all its grammatical variations, and cognate expressions means the carrying out construction of any building, engineering, mining, or other operations in, on, or over or under land or the making of any material change in any building or land or in the use of any building or land, and includes layout and sub-division of any land;
   • (XVI) . "Development Plan" means a plan for the development or redevelopment or improvement of an area within the jurisdiction of a Planning Authority and includes a Regional Development Plan, a Metropolitan Development Plan, Area Development Plan, Master Plan, Town Development Plan, Zonal Development Plan, District Development Plan, or any other plan or scheme prepared under this Act by whatsoever name known;
   • (XVII) . "District" means a district in the State of Bihar; (XVIII). "Floor Area Ratio" means the quotient obtained by dividing the total covered area on all floors by the area of the plot - Total covered area of all floors FAR = _________________________ Plot area
   • (XIX) . "Floor Space Index" means the quotient or the ratio of the Total Covered area of all floors to the total area of the plot, multiplied by 100 Viz., Total covered area of all floors Floor Space Index= _________________________ X 100 Plot area
   • (XX) . "Government" means the Government of the State of Bihar;
6. (XXI) . "Heritage Building" shall mean any building of one or more premises or any part thereof or structure or artifact, duly certified by the Bihar Urban Arts and Heritage Commission constituted under this Act or the Archeological Survey of India or any other designated Government Authority of the Central Government or Government of Bihar, as requiring conservation or preservation for historical or architectural or artistic or artisanal or aesthetic or cultural or environmental or ecological purposes, including such portion of land adjoining such building or part thereof as may be required for fencing or covering or in any manner preserving the historical or architectural or aesthetic or cultural or environmental value of such building;
7. (XXII) . "Heritage Precincts" means spaces or premises, duly certified by the Bihar Urban Arts and Heritage Commission constituted under this Act or the Archeological Survey of India or any other designated Government Authority of the Central Government or Government of Bihar as requiring conservation or preservation for historical or architectural or aesthetic or cultural purposes and walls or other boundaries of a particular areas or place or building which may enclose such space by an imaginary line drawn around it or a combination of one or more of these measures; (XXIII). "Industry" includes the carrying on of any manufacturing process as defined in the Factories Act, 1948, and “industrial” shall be construed accordingly;
8. (XXIV) . "Infrastructure" means any project, public amenity or public utility or service, which is required for smooth, productive and efficient functioning of the Planning Area such as trunk infrastructure, access from or to the nearest major road, bulk supply of drinking water (surface water and ground water with trunk line), power (electric substation and network), health, education facilities, transport (major roads such as national highways, state highways, major district roads, other district roads, , bridges, bypasses and underpasses), common effluent treatment plants (CETP), sewage treatment plant (STP), solid waste disposal system and receptacles, communication network, sectoral shopping markets, institutional buildings, malls and multiplexes, cinema halls, community halls, open air theatres, playgrounds, civic and cultural facilities, public parking areas etc.;
9. (XXV) . "Land" includes benefits arising out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;
10. (XXVI) . "Land Use" means the major use for which a land is being used on any specified date; (XXVII). "Layout" means the laying out a parcel of land or lands into building plots with laying of roads or streets with formation, leveling, metalling or black topping or paving of the roads and footpaths, and laying of the services such as water supply, drainage, street lighting, open spaces and includes land sub-division for the purpose of building in such plots; (XXVIII). "Local Authority" means Urban Local Bodies constituted under the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 (Bihar Act 11 of 2007), as in force in the state of Bihar or Panchayati Raj Institutions constituted under Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006 or any other authority or corporation defined as Local Authority under any other Act;
11. (XXIX) . "Metropolitan Area" means an area having a population of ten lakhs or more, comprised in one or more districts and consisting of two or more Municipalities or Panchayats or other contiguous areas, specified by public notification to be a Metropolitan Area;
12. (XXX) . “Metropolitan Planning Committee” means a committee constituted for a Metropolitan Area by the Government in accordance with Article 243ZE of the Constitution of India;
13. (XXXI) . "Natural Hazard Prone Areas" means an area likely to have -
14. (a) moderate to very high damage risk of earthquakes, or
15. (b) moderate to very high damage risk of cyclones,
16. (c) significant flood flow, or
17. (d) landslide potential or proneness to it, or
18. (e) any or more of these hazards; (XXXII). "Notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (XXXIII). "Occupier" includes-
19. (a) a tenant;
20. (b) an owner in occupation of, or otherwise using his land;
21. (c) a rent free tenant of any land;
22. (d) a licensee in occupation of any land or building; and
23. (e) any person who is liable to pay to the owner damages for the use and occupation of any land or building; (XXXIV). "Operational Construction" means any construction whether temporary or permanent, which is necessary for the operation, maintenance, development, or execution of any of the following services, namely:-
24. (a) railways;
25. (b) national highways;
26. (c) national waterways;
27. (d) major ports
28. (e) river front development;
29. (f) airways and aerodromes;
30. (g) posts and telegraphs, telephones, wireless broadcasting and other like forms of communication;
31. (h) regional grid for electricity;
    • (i) any other service, deemed important and essential to the life of the community and so notified by the Government; Explanation: - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the following shall not be deemed as “construction” within the meaning of this clause –
    • (i) New residential buildings (other than gate lodges, quarters for limited essential operational staff and the like), roads and drains in railway colonies, hotels, clubs, institutes and schools, in the case of railways; and
    • (ii) A new building, new structure or new installation or any extension thereof, in the case of any other service;
32. (XXXV) . "Owner" in relation to any property, includes any person who is, for the time being receiving or entitled to receive, whether on his own account or on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any other person or as an agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver for any other person or for any religious or charitable institution, the rents or profits of the property; and also includes a mortgagee in possession thereof; (XXXVI). “Peripheral Area” means such area in the periphery of the Planning Areasas delineated by the Government; (XXXVII). "Plan" means the statement of proposals, policies and development briefs for securing, promoting and regulating development in a Planning Area, and includes a map or maps or sets of documents or all of them; (XXXVIII). "Planning Area" means a territorial unit demarcated and declared by the Government for the purposes of planning under this Act and shall be known by such name as the Government may decide, (XXXIX). "Planning Authority" means the “Planning Authority”, as constituted under this Act or any other such Local Authority, as may be so designed this Act or any other such body or corporation, as may be so designated by the Government;
33. (XL) . "Plot" means a portion of land numbered and shown as one plot in a Development Plan, Area Development Scheme etc. ;
34. (XLI) . "Prescribed" means prescribed by Rules and Regulations made under this Act;
35. (XLII) . "Public Place" means any place or building which is open to the use and enjoyment of the public whether it is actually used or enjoyed by the public or not and whether the entry is regulated by any charge or not; (XLIII). “Publication” means the act or process of publishing by the Appropriate Authority in the official Gazette of Government of Bihar, newspaper, magazine, website or any other means;
36. (XLIV) . "Preservation" means and includes retaining the existing form and fabric of a place or structure in its existing state and checking deterioration;
37. (XLV) . "Reconstruction" means and includes restoring a place or structure as early as possible to a known earlier state and distinguished by the introduction of materials (new or old) into the fabric, this shall not include either recreation or conjectural reconstruction;
38. (XLVI) . “Regulations” means the Regulations made under this Act by the Planning Authority in exercise of its power and includes zoning and other regulations made as a part of a Development Plan, Area Development Scheme etc.; (XLVII). “Relocation of population” in relation to an Area of Bad Layout or Obsolete Development or a slum area, means making available, in that area or elsewhere, of accommodation, for residential purposes or for carrying on business or other activities, together with amenities, to persons living or carrying on business or other activities in the said area who have to be so accommodated so that the said area may be properly planned in the prescribed manner; (XLVIII). "Residence" includes the use for human habitation of any land or building or part thereof, the use of gardens, grounds, garages, stables and out-houses, if any, appertaining to such land or building, and the expression "Residential" shall be construed accordingly;
39. (XLIX) . "Restoration" means and includes retaining the existing fabric of a place to a earlier known state by removing accretions or by reassembling existing components without replacing by new materials;
40. (L) . "Rules" means the rules made under this Act, by the Government;
41. (LI) . "Scheme" means a development or a planning scheme prepared under this Act, and includes plans and maps, together with the regulatory and descriptive matter, if any, relating to such scheme;
42. (LII) . “Transferable Development Right (TDR)” means making available certain amount of additional built up area in lieu of the area relinquished or surrendered by the owner of the land whose land or a part thereof, is required for public purposes such as construction and widening of roads, development of parks, playgrounds, green area civic amenities, recreational uses, urban infrastructure, implementation of development control and Zoning Regulations and conservation of heritage sites or such other purposes as Government may notify so that he can use the extra built up area either himself or transfer it to another person for a consideration;
43. (LIII) . “Tribunal” means the tribunal constituted by the Government under this Act;
44. (LIV) . "Utility" means services such as roads including approach roads, bridges, bypasses and underpasses, street lights, water supply system, sewerage system, storm water drainage system, electrical network, communication network, sewage treatment plants, percolation wells, solid waste disposal system, collection, treatment, discharge and disposal of industrial, institutional and township waste, gas pipeline, common effluent treatment plants (CETP), spaces for informal services etc., and any other as may be delineated by the Government;
45. (LV) . "Zone" means a territorial unit or part in which any Planning Area, may be sub-divided for the purposes of securing, promoting and regulating development under this Act, and the expression "Zoning Regulation" shall be construed accordingly;
46. (LVI) . "Zonal Plan” or “Zonal Development Plan” means in respect of a zone, a plan detailing out the proposals of the Development Plan and acting as a link between the Development Plan and the layout plan. It may contain a site plan and land use plan with approximate location and extent of land uses such as residential public and semi-public building or works, urban and civic utilities, roads, housing, recreation, industry, business, markets, and other matters relating to the development of the zone;
47. (LVII) . "Zoning Regulations" mean, in respect of a zone, regulations for regulating and controlling of land use and enforcing of layout plan and prescribing regulatory principles for buildings such as permissible Floor Area Ratio, Floor Space Index, height of the building, building lines, parking, etc.; Note:- Words and expressions not defined in this Act shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 and Bihar Apartment Ownership Act, 2006, as amended from time to time.