The state government is in the mood to lock horns with the National Green Tribunal over the restriction on construction of buildings on built-up area of more than 20,000 square metres in the Patna metropolitan region and order of re-constitution of the Patna metropolitan committee.

Urban development and housing department principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad said on Wednesday that the department will seek legal opinion, and claimed the metropolitan committee was legit. "The metropolitan committee has been formed in adherence to the Constitution of India, as two-third of its members are elected representatives. Besides, the metropolitan committees in many other states are also constituted in similar manner with similar composition," said Chaitanya.

"There is not much discrepancy in the formation of the committee or selection of its members. Besides, the draft master plan has been approved by the Bihar urban planning and development board, which is also a competent and statutory body for this work. Hence, we would be seeking legal opinion on the orders issued by the NGT on this issue," Chaitanya said.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh also held a meeting on the issue with secretaries/principal secretaries of the urban development and building construction department among others. Sanjay Kumar Singh, vice-chairman of the metropolitan committee, held the state government responsible for the delay in finalising the master plan. "All this happened because of the state government's fault. I have been saying this from the beginning that the master plan for Patna should be finalised as soon as possible. However, the state was dilly-dallying the matter, which has now irked the tribunal," said Sanjay.

The state cabinet in its meeting held last Thursday had approved the metropolitan committee. Sanjay said there are 46 members in the committee, including 30 elected representatives and 16 members nominated by the state government.

"The 16 members nominated by the state government are mostly principal secretaries/secretaries of various departments of the state government, including the urban development, building construction and education among others. These officials are ex- officio members of the committee. The state government could have accommodated a few technical experts, including town planners and architects, among the nominated members," said Sanjay.

The elected representatives of the committee were elected on April 16 and 18 by around 110 elected representatives, including ward councillors and mukhiyas in the civic bodies and panchayats in and around Patna. While 18 members were elected from urban local bodies, the remaining 12 are from panchayats.