The Hindu 24.10.2013
Second master plan committees reconstituted
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA)
has re-constituted five committees to monitor the progress of the Second
Master Plan.
The committees on economy and
employment, shelter, infrastructure and investment planning, land use
and environment, traffic and transportation will advise the CMDA and
various departments on action to be taken to achieve the objectives of
the Second Master Plan, prioritise policies, programmes and action plans
recommended and advise the departments concerned to implement projects.
In
2008, the government constituted six committees to cope with changes in
the Chennai Metropolitan Area. But, the committees stopped meeting two
years ago. Now, the re-constituted committees on infrastructure and
investment planning have been clubbed together, bringing down the number
to five.
The recommendations of the re-constituted committees will have an impact on the implementation of the Second Master Plan.
At
a meeting this week, officials of CMDA stressed the need for keeping
Development Regulations unchanged in the Chennai Metropolitan Area under
the Second Master Plan until the creation of the Metropolitan Regional
Development Authority. The State government is yet to give its nod for
the development of a regional plan. The committees will recommend
detailed studies to be made for effective implementation of the
programmes and action plan, frame detailed policies such as affordable
housing policy and pedestrian safety, recommend corrections and identify
measurable indicators to monitor the progress.
Regular meetings
The
re-constituted committees will meet every three months. As the Second
Master Plan covers a span of 20 years, the committees play a key role in
keeping the plan on track. The studies proposed to be carried out as
part of the Second Master Plan will receive funding after the committees
submit their recommendations.
The studies will cover
topics such as land needs for informal and small-scale enterprises,
income and employment in formal and informal sectors, rate of urban
growth and level of investments in infrastructure, affordable housing
and primary health care and incidence of diseases.
The committees, set up in 2008, had stopped meeting nearly two years ago.