Timeline: What Actually Happened

Before getting into the dispute itself, it helps to separate confirmed fact from noise. Here is the sequence, in order:

• 2009Mohali, New Chandigarh, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Banur and Kharar each received their own master plans under GMADA’s regional planning exercise. Kurali stayed part of the broader regional document without a dedicated plan.
• 3 July 2026GMADA released the draft master plan specifically for Kurali Municipal Council and 78 surrounding villages, opening a 30-day public objection and suggestion window.
• 16 July 2026The Punjab chapter of the Institute of Town Planners, along with landowners and other stakeholders, publicly flagged multiple lapses — insufficient surveys, zoning anomalies, and procedural concerns — as reported by The Tribune.
• OngoingThe objection and suggestion process remains open. Review, revision, and Punjab state government approval must follow before any final notification.

Draft vs Final Notification — Why the Difference Matters

A huge amount of confusion around Kurali comes from treating the draft plan as if it were already law. It isn’t. Under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act (PRTPD), 1995, a master plan only becomes legally binding after it survives the objection period, is reviewed, and receives Punjab government approval and formal notification.

Agriculture Zone — What It Actually Permits

Land marked “Agriculture Zone” in a GMADA draft or notified plan is meant to stay in farming and allied use until it goes through a formal process — it is not automatically off-limits to future development forever, but it is not developable today.

Generally allowed

• Farming, horticulture, and allied agricultural activity
• Existing lawful structures directly tied to agricultural use (farm stores, tube wells, etc.)

Generally restricted without a formal Change of Land Use (CLU)

• Residential colonies, group housing, or apartment construction
• Commercial buildings, shops, or showrooms
• Industrial or warehousing use

A CLU application — reviewed under GMADA/PUDA and Punjab town planning rules — is the formal route by which agricultural land can, in principle, later be approved for non-agricultural use. This is a case-by-case, discretionary process, not a guarantee, and it typically follows only after a zone’s status is settled in the final notified plan.

Green Zone — Purpose & Restrictions

“Green” or “Green/Recreational” zoning in a GMADA master plan serves a different function from Agriculture Zone. Its primary purpose is environmental and structural, not simply “undeveloped land waiting for CLU.”

• Environmental buffers: protecting water bodies, natural drainage channels, and flood-prone stretches from construction
• Road and highway buffers: maintaining set-back distances along key corridors
• Open/recreational space: reserved parks, plantation belts, and public green space within an otherwise urbanising area

Construction is generally not permitted in Green Zone, and this classification is typically far more restrictive and far more permanent in intent than Agriculture Zone — which is precisely why planners flagged it as a serious issue when they said prime, already-commercial highway frontage in Kurali’s draft has been pushed into this category, while other, genuinely undeveloped green pockets from the older notified Regional Plan were reportedly reclassified as Residential.

Agriculture Zone vs Green Zone — At a Glance

The Zoning Anomalies — Explained in Plain English

According to The Tribune’s July 16, 2026 report, town planning stakeholders — including the Punjab chapter of the Institute of Town Planners and a former Chief Town Planner — raised four specific, technical objections to the draft:

1. Residential discontinuity between Kurali and Gharuan

A former Chief Town Planner pointed to a significant gap in residential continuity between the proposed Kurali master plan and the separate, ongoing Gharuan development plan next door — meaning the two neighbouring draft plans don’t zone consistently where they meet.

2. Built-up highway land classified as Agriculture Zone

Despite numerous already-constructed or already-approved residential and commercial projects along National Highway 21, large stretches in that corridor have reportedly been marked Agriculture Zone in the draft — creating artificial gaps in an area that is, on the ground, already developed.

3. Commercial frontage pushed into restrictive Green/Recreational zones

Prime commercial highway frontage — the kind of land that normally commands mixed-use or commercial zoning in any comparable Punjab master plan — has reportedly been placed into restrictive Green/Recreational categories, while separate green pockets that were legally protected under the older, already-notified GMADA Regional Plan appear to have been converted to Residential Zones in this new draft.

4. No Mixed Land Use along key economic corridors

Perhaps the sharpest criticism: the draft reportedly fails to earmark any Mixed Land Use stretches along high-potential routes including the Kharar–Kurali National Highway and the Kurali Bypass — a departure from how virtually every other master plan in the GMADA region (Kharar, Zirakpur, Banur) has handled its own highway corridors.

Who Is Objecting — and Why It Carries Weight

This isn’t a case of scattered landowner complaints. The criticism is coming from the Punjab chapter of the Institute of Town Planners — a professional body — alongside a named former Chief Town Planner and landowners directly affected by the proposed reclassification. When a professional planning body flags “lack of proper surveys” and “procedural violations” rather than just disagreeing with a zone on principle, it signals the objections are likely to carry real weight during the review stage — which is exactly why the 30-day objection window matters.

Why “No Mixed Land Use” Is the Biggest Practical Concern

Mixed Land Use zoning along a highway corridor is what typically allows a stretch of road to carry retail, offices, showrooms, and residential development side by side — it’s the zoning category that, in practice, drives most of the commercial value along NH corridors in Kharar, Zirakpur, and Banur today. Its apparent absence along the Kharar–Kurali NH and Kurali Bypass in the current draft means that, if unrevised, landowners with prime highway frontage could end up zoned more restrictively than comparable land in every neighbouring GMADA sub-plan — which is precisely the anomaly planners are asking GMADA to correct before final notification.

How to File an Objection or Suggestion

If your land falls within the 78 villages and you believe the proposed zoning misclassifies it, the objection window — not a private land sale — is your primary point of leverage right now.

1. Obtain a copy of the draft plan from the GMADA head office, the District Town Planner offices in Mohali or Kharar, the Kurali Municipal Council office, or the PUDA website.
2. Identify your specific khasra number(s) and cross-check the proposed zone against your current land use and any existing approvals.
3. Draft a written objection/suggestion citing the specific discrepancy — e.g., existing approved construction on land marked Agriculture Zone.
4. Submit it within the notified objection window through the official channel specified in the public notice.
5. Retain proof of submission and follow up on the review/hearing process.

What This Means If You Own Land in the 78 Villages

Nothing about your legal land use has changed yet — the current draft is not enforceable. But three things are worth acting on now rather than later:

• Don’t assume your zone is final. The very anomalies flagged above show that draft-stage zoning can be inconsistent with ground reality — which is exactly what the objection process exists to fix.
• Don’t buy or sell purely on the draft map. Land use, and therefore value, can shift materially between draft and final notification — as it did in comparable GMADA corridors historically.
• Get your specific khasra checked against the draft, not just the general “78 villages” headline, before making any decision either way.

For a broader investment-timing view of the Kurali corridor — including risk analysis by buyer type and historical comparisons to how Kharar and Zirakpur matured — see our full GMADA Kurali Master Plan investment guide.

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