PUNJAB FLOOD PLAIN REGULATION ACT 2016

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THE PUNJAB FLOOD PLAIN REGULATION ACT 2016 
(XXVII of 2016) 
CONTENTS 
1.       Short title, commencement and extent. 
2.       Definitions. 
3.       Authority to designate flood plain. 
4.       Responsibility of Canal Officers. 
5.       Construction in the flood plain. 
6.       Application for permission. 
7.       Construction approval committee. 
8.       Formal permission to construct. 
9.       Public authorities. 
10.     Special building code. 
11.     Flood plain surveys. 
12.     Removal of unauthorized construction. 
13.     Power to arrest. 
14.     Offence. 
15.     Review Board. 
16.     Appeal against order under section 12. 
17.     Protection of actions. 
18.     No liability. 
19.     Power to make rules. 
20.     Overriding effect. 
TEXT 
 
1THE PUNJAB FLOOD PLAIN REGULATION ACT 2016 
(XXVII of 2016) 
[20th April 2016] 
An 
Act 
to regulate construction in the flood plains in the Punjab. 
It is necessary to regulate construction in flood plains for flood mitigation and 
development of water resources; and, to deal with ancillary matters; 
Be it enacted by Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as follows: 
1.     Short title, commencement and extent.– (1) This Act may be cited as the Punjab 
Flood Plain Regulation Act 2016. 
(2)   It shall come into force at once. 
(3)   It extends to whole of the Punjab. 
2.       Definitions.– In this Act: 
(a)     “breaching section” means the section of a flood embankment or other 
flood protection work which is designated for effecting a controlled breach 
to release a part of flood under specified conditions; 
(b)      “Canal Officer” means a Canal Officer appointed under the Act; 
(c)   “Chief Engineer” means the Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Zone 
commanding the relevant river reach; 
(d)     “committee” means a construction approval committ ee constituted under 
the Act; 
(e)      “construction” means any excavation, clearing, laying of utility lines, road 
or rail line, construction of a bridge or any other physical structure; 
(f)      “flood plain” means the land notified in th e official Gazette as flood pl ain 
under section 3 of the Act; 
(g)      “Government” means Government of the Punjab; 
                                                           
1This Act was passed by the Punjab Assemb ly on 14 April 2016; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab on 19 April 2016; and, 
was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 20 April 2016, pages 4663-66. 
(h)      “land” includes the land of any tenure and land submerged in water; 
(i)       “pond area” means the area which is prone to flooding owing to back water 
effect of a dam or barrage; 
(j)       “prescribed” means prescribed by the rules made under the Act; and 
(k)    “river” includes a stream, nallah, hill torrent and any other natural water 
course conveying run-off from rain, snow melt or both. 
3.      Authority to designate flood plain. – (1) The Government may, by notification in 
the official Gazette, containing detail specifications of the land, declare any land as flood 
plain if the land falls under any of the following categories: 
(a)    natural course of a river, area of a lake or wetland; 
(b)    low plain which is adjacent to a river and is likely to flooding; 
(c)   area which is likely to be inundated due to the op eration of a breaching 
section; 
(d)    pond area of a barrage or dam; and 
(e)    area likely to be used for construction of a dam or a barrage. 
(2)    The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, revise the 
extent of a flood plain at such intervals as may be prescribed. 
4.    Responsibility of Canal Officers. – (1) The Government shall appoint Canal 
Officer not below basic scale 18 for the performance of one or more functions under this 
Act. 
            (2)    A Canal Officer shall have jurisdiction over such part of the flood plain as 
may be specified by the Government. 
            (3)    Where a Canal Officer is on leave or he is absent from duty, a Cana l 
Officer immediately superior to him shall be responsible for his assigned work. 
5.        Construction in the flood plain.– (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Government 
may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare that a person shall no t undertake any 
type of construction in a flood plain without prior permission i n writing of the Canal 
Officer. 
            (2)    The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, prohibit any 
particular type of construction in a flood plain. 
6.    Application for permission. – (1) A person may make an application for 
permission to construct in a flood plain to the Canal Officer in the prescribed manner. 
 (2) If an existing construction on a flood plain is an illegal constru ction under 
any law, the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, require that the 
occupant of any category of such construction shall, within ninety days of the 
commencement of this Act, seek permission of the Canal Officer under the Act. 
 (3) The Canal Officer shall, without undue delay but within the time fixed by 
the Government, endorse his opinion on the application and submit it to the committee. 
7. Construction approval committee.– (1) The Government may, by notification in 
the official Gazette, constitute one or more committees headed by Superintending 
Engineer consisting of such Canal Officers, other officials and experts in the relevant 
fields as it deems appropriate, to consider applications for permissio n to construct in a 
flood plain. 
          (2) The committee may, for reasons to be recorded, either rejects the 
application or grant permission subject to such conditions and restrictions as it may 
deem fit to achieve the objectives of this Act. 
          (3) While granting a permission to construct in a flood plain, the committee 
shall, among other things, consider the following matters: 
(a) the obstruction that the construction is likely to cause to the flo w and its 
flood related impact; 
(b) the pressing need for such construction; 
(c) the safety of the construction and its impact on safety of other 
constructions or related areas; and 
(d) the opinion of the Canal Officer on the application for permission to 
construct in the flood plain. 
           (4) The committee shall decide the application within such time as may be 
prescribed or specified by the Government and convey its decision to the Canal Off icer 
without unnecessary delay. 
8. Formal permission to construct. – (1) The Canal Officer shall, in accordance 
with the decision of the committee and within forty five days of receipt of application, 
accept or reject the application for permission to construct in writing and c onvey it to the 
applicant.  
            (2) The Canal Officer shall keep complete record of all applications for 
permission to construct in a flood plain, proceedings on the applications and decision of 
the committee on the applications in the prescribed manner. 
9. Public authorities. – This Act applies to public authorities including the Federal 
Government, a Provincial Government or a local government and a public authority 
shall not finance or undertake any construction in the flood plain without the prior written 
permission of the Canal Officer. 
10. Special building code. – Notwithstanding anything in any other law, the 
Government may prescribe special building code for construction in a flood plain in view 
of their particular requirements of the flood plain. 
11. Flood plain surveys. – Each year in October or at such other time as the 
Government may specify, the Canal Officer shall carryout survey of the flood plain and 
submit report to the Government mentioning cons tructions required to be notified under 
section 5 of this Act. 
12. Removal of unauthorized construction. – (1) Where a construction is 
undertaken otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Canal 
Officer may order its removal and cause it to be removed. 
            (2) For purposes of subsection (1), if considered necessary, a Canal Officer 
may request assistance from the District Collector, local police or an aut hority of the 
local government. 
            (3) The District Collector, local police or the local government shall render the 
assistance to the Canal Officer and shall, in case of inability to render immediate 
assistance, inform the Canal Officer in writing within three days of the request. 
13. Power to arrest.– (1) If a person resists removal of unauthorized construction or 
assaults or threatens any person acting under the order of the Canal Offic er, the person 
may be arrested. 
            (2) Where a person is arrested by a person other than a police officer under 
this Act, he shall immediately be handed over to the nearest police station. 
14. Offence.– (1) A person who undertakes construction or commissions a 
construction in violation of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence 
punishable with imprisonment which may extend to thirty days and fine which may 
extend to two hundred thousand rupees. 
           (2) If a person occupies an illegal constru ction after ninety days of the 
commencement of the Act, he shall be guilty of an offence punishable with fine which 
may extend to one hundred thousand rupees. 
15. Review Board.– (1) The Government shall constitute a Review Board headed by 
Chief Engineer and comprising such Canal Officers, other officials and experts in the 
relevant fields as may be prescribed, to review the order of the  Canal Officer under 
section 8. 
            (2)  Any person aggrieved of the order of the Canal Officer under section 8 
may, within thirty days, prefer an appeal to the Review Board in the prescribed manner.  
            (3) The Review Board shall decide an appeal for review of an order of the 
Canal Officer within thirty days from the date of filing of the appeal. 
16. Appeal against order under section 12. – (1) Where a person is aggrieved by 
an order of Canal Officer under section 12, he may file an appeal to the Chief Engineer 
within thirty days of the passing of the order. 
            (2)  The Chief Engineer shall decide the appeal within thirty days from the date 
of filling of the appeal. 
17. Protection of actions. – No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie 
against any person acting under this Act for anything done in good faith under the Act or 
any rules made or notification issued under the Act. 
18.      No liability.– (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, a Canal Officer 
or any other officer of the Government or the Government shall not be liable for any 
flood related or other damage occurring to any construction permitted under the Act. 
              (2)   A court or tribunal shall not entertain any claim for compensation or 
damages for any damage mentioned in subsection (1). 
19.     Power to make rules. – The Government may, by notification in the official 
Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. 
20.    Overriding effect. – This Act shall prevail over all other laws and any law 
inconsistent with the Act shall not be enforced in a flood plain.