Dehradun, Apr 21 (PTI) Uttarakhand may soon have new and stricter laws regulating the sale and purchase of land, similar to those in Himachal Pradesh that impose restrictions on land deals with outsiders. A committee constituted last year to recommend amendments to the land laws is likely to submit its recommendations to the state government in about 10 days. “We had sought reports from all the district magistrates on the sale and purchase of land in their areas. Some reports have already arrived and the rest will come in a day or two. We hope to submit our recommendations to the state government on the matter in a week or ten days,” chairman of the panel and former chief secretary Subhash Kumar told PTI. A majority of the people are in favour of stricter land laws on the lines of those in Himachal Pradesh so that the sale and purchase of land, especially in the hills, is regulated, he said. Laws in Himachal Pradesh limit the amount of land that outsiders can buy. “Though we are yet to study the reports of the district magistrates and frame our recommendations, our view is that the sale and purchase of land should not be done in a haphazard manner. Certain limits and conditions must be imposed on those buying land in Uttarakhand, but then, too much regulation discourages investors from outside,” Kumar said. He recalled that there were certain restrictions on sale and purchase of land when ND Tiwari was the chief minister but they were liberalised by the subsequent governments. In 2018, the limits on outsiders buying land in the state were completely done away with and collectors had the discretionary power to authorise the purchase of land, he said. “A balance needs to be struck. We do not want people in the hills to become landless, but investment is also needed for industrialisation and employment generation,” he added. Ajendra Ajay, a member of the committee, said the district magistrates were asked to furnish information on the parcels of land sold and the purpose for which they were sold. “There have been instances where land was bought with the stated purpose of setting up a medical college, but a hotel was built instead,” he said. “There has been largescale buying of agricultural land by non-agriculturists from outside the state. It must stop,” Ajay, who had written to the chief minister last year alleging fast demographic changes in the hill areas of the state, said. “It is a border state. We share borders with two countries (China and Nepal). It is also a state where major Hindu pilgrimage centres are located. The changing demography of the hills does not augur well for us,” he pointed out. PTI ALM ALM CJ CJ CJ