1) Why it is in the news, and what the Bill tries to fix

At a fully paperless Cabinet meeting in Ziro under the “Cabinet Aapke Dwar” programme, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh approved the draft Arunachal Pradesh Urban and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
Main aim: stop unplanned growth and move to planned development across the state’s forty-seven notified towns. The Bill also pushes digital working and care for the environment in government decisions.

In one line: plan first, then build—so towns grow clean, safe, and organised.

2) What will change on the ground (key points in simple words)

The Bill gives towns and small cities a modern planning tool-box so that growth is legal, fair, and predictable.

• Town planning schemes: The town can redraw roads, parks, footpaths, drains, and public spaces in an area. Plots are re-shaped and returned to owners so that public services can be built without unfair loss.
• Land pooling: Landowners pool their land for a planned layout. After keeping land for roads, parks, and services, each owner gets a smaller but fully serviced plot that is easier to use and often worth more.
• Transfer of development rights: If a person’s land is kept for a road or a park, the person gets a right to build extra floors at another place or can sell this right to someone else. This is a fair way to compensate, not only cash.
• Stronger city bodies: Urban Local Bodies (city councils and municipalities) get clearer powers to make and enforce master plans, in the spirit of the Seventy-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
• Control of illegal building: Tighter action against unauthorised layouts and unsafe construction to protect health and safety.
• Central support: The Bill makes the state ready to receive one hundred crore rupees under Special Assistance for Capital Investment, 2025–26 for planning reforms.

3) Why this matters for Arunachal (easy benefits)

Many towns in Arunachal are growing fast, but often without basic layout and services. Planning before building saves money and protects nature.

• Cleaner and safer towns: Proper drains, road width for fire engines, footpaths, and green spaces reduce flooding, fires, and traffic jams.
• Lower cost over time: Laying water pipes, power lines, and sewers on a planned grid is cheaper than fixing a mess later.
• Fewer disputes, faster work: Clear master plans and open rules for land pooling and development rights reduce fights and help good projects start on time.
• Stronger city finances: With better property tax rules and other local income, city councils can raise their own money and depend less on last-minute grants.
• Faster, cleaner office work: Paperless files and online records bring speed and transparency.

4) Other decisions of the Cabinet that support the Bill

These steps will help the planning law work smoothly in real life.

• Municipal property tax rules, 2025: Modern, fair assessment and collection so city councils have steady income.
• Municipal rules for outdoor advertisements, 2025: Clean and safe signboards, better town look, and extra non-tax income.
• Change in land settlement and records rules: Government land can be leased for up to fifty years, and renewed for forty-nine years, for farming, homes, shops, industry, and public services. This gives clarity to citizens and investors.
• Updated recruitment rules in key departments: Brings new skills and fair hiring into government offices.
• Fire safety push: Four new fire stations at Mebo (East Siang), Kimin (Papum Pare), Deomali (Tirap), and Lungla (Tawang), plus sixty-eight new posts, so emergency teams can reach faster.

5) Risks and worries (what could go wrong, and why)

A good law needs capacity, clean working, and trust.

• Limited staff and skills: Town planning, digital mapping, building permissions, and project tracking need trained people and simple software.
• Fear of benefit going only to the powerful: Land pooling and development rights must run with full openness, or well-connected people may gain more than ordinary citizens.
• Hill state reality: Taking the same rules across remote and hilly towns will be slow and needs patient hand-holding.
• Money for many years: One hundred crore rupees is a helpful start, but town services need long-term funding for roads, drains, water, and sewage.
• Teamwork challenge: Real results need state departments, city councils, and people to work together, with clear roles and timelines.

6) Way forward (near-term actions, long-term steps, and a short mains answer)

Near term: next twelve to eighteen months

• Start pilot town planning and land pooling in two or three towns; publish before-and-after maps and simple cost–benefit notes.
• Hire and train urban planners, surveyors, valuers, building permission staff, and help them use digital maps.
• Launch a single online window for building permissions with clear time limits. Link it with property tax, outdoor advertisement permissions, and land lease records.
• Give small handbooks to citizens on town planning, land pooling, and development rights. Hold ward-level meetings so people know their rights and the process.
• Make the four new fire stations fully ready. Do mock drills for urban flood, landslide, and earthquake safety.

Long term: three to five years

• Prepare master plans for all forty-seven towns with zoning, street design, drainage plan, heritage areas, and green cover goals.
• Build stable finance: realistic property tax, fair user charges, and municipal bonds for larger towns.
• Make towns green and strong: building rules that respect hill slopes; rainwater harvesting; drains that help water soak into the ground; solar rooftops; roads that follow the slope of hills.
• Independent checks and open data: yearly town report cards; a public website showing building permissions, transfers of development rights, and project progress.
• Local jobs and skills: train local youth in surveying, digital mapping, masonry, plumbing, electrical work, and safety, so projects also create local employment.

Mains practice (one short answer pointer, 150–200 words)
“The Arunachal Pradesh Urban and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2025 aims to shift the state from unplanned growth to planned development.” Explain how town planning schemes, land pooling, and transfer of development rights can deliver fair and efficient urban growth in a hilly, low-capacity setting. What safeguards are needed to prevent capture by the powerful and to build citizen trust?
How to frame: define each tool in one line; show how it creates roads, parks, and services without unfair dispossession; list safeguards—online permissions, public maps, open register of development rights, independent third-party checks, social impact review, clear grievance system, and steady training and staffing in city councils; connect to property tax reform, outdoor ad rules, clear land lease policy, better fire safety, and multi-year funding.

One-line wrap:
Plan first, build right—that is how Arunachal’s small towns can grow into healthy, safe, and green cities.