Itanagar, Sep 8 (IANS) The Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet on Monday approved a draft bill to regulate the haphazard growth of urbanisation, officials said.

The Cabinet in its meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu approved the introduction of the Draft Arunachal Pradesh Urban and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and it would be placed in the forthcoming state Assembly session.

The official quoting the discussion of the cabinet meeting said that in recent years, Arunachal Pradesh has been experiencing rapid urbanisation with 47 notified urban centres.

He said planning interventions are of utmost importance to regulate haphazard growth and development. Considering the vast geographical area and accessibility of urban towns in the state, such measures are vital to achieve the objectives and vision of the government.

The proposed bill is aimed to address these challenges, the official said.

The Cabinet has also approved “Arunachal Pradesh Municipal Property Tax Management Rule’ 2025” prepared by the Directorate of Town Planning, Department of Urban Affairs. The Property Tax shall be implemented initially in all the Municipal areas of the state.

The official said that the state government shall attain its goal to strengthen the Urban Local Bodies by implementing decentralised measures on urban governance and empowering them to have sustainable urban growth, improve urban infrastructure and enhance fiscal autonomy of ULBs.

Thus, the implementation of Property Tax in Urban Areas especially in the constituted municipalities of Arunachal Pradesh will enable municipalities to generate revenue and make municipalities independent and self-reliant in other word Atmanirbhar Municipality, he said.

The official said that in a significant step towards digital governance and environmental responsibility, the Arunachal Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Khandu on Monday held a fully paperless Cabinet meeting, “Cabinet Aapke Dwar”, at Ziro in Lower Subansiri district.

The session was conducted using the e-Cabinet Application, marking a progressive shift in governance practices, first outside the state capital Itanagar.

–IANS

sc/pgh