Unauthorised religious structures: Bihar govt approves rules

The Bihar government today approved rules for regularisation, relocation and removal of the unauthorised religious structures, an official said.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Information and Public Relations (I&PRD) Principal Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters.
The approval of 'The Bihar Unauthorised Religious Structures Construction, Survey and its Regularisation, Relocation and Removal Rules, 2013,' will enable the authorities to take appropriate decision about the status of illegal religious structures, he said.
The approval of rules about the unauthorised structures came in the backdrop of a directive by the Supreme Court, Mehrotra said.

Under the guidelines, the authorities will first discuss with the local people about location of an unauthorised religious structure at public place and if necessary will be asked to relocate such structures at alternative places, the I&PRD Principal Secretary said.
In the event of no peaceful solution being found in this regard, the unauthorised religious structures will be dealt with on case to case basis under the Bihar Public Land Encroachment Act and other legislations, Mehrotra said.