The Times of India        17.09.2014  

Meeting at VDA to discuss city’s makeover today

Varanasi: For
urban makeover of Modi’s Banaras a three-day meeting will be held at
Varanasi Development Authority from Wednesday. The meeting has been
called to discuss various issues to be incorporated in new city
development plan under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Now, a revised City Development Plan (CDP) will be prepared for the
implementation of development works under JNNURM. According to
environment officer under JNNURM, Shailendra Tripathi, besides the civic
problems like drainage, sewage, transportation, development of urban
poor, the issues of heritage, tourism, water conservation, energy
saving, encroachments, greenery upgradation, purification of ponds,
smart traffic system, beautification of parks and renovation of
buildings will also be discussed during the meeting. According to
Tripathi, all the components relating to city’s development have been
categorized into different categories.

The meeting will be
attended by members of CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory and members from
Capacity Building of Urban Development (CBUD), an intensive unit of
Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) along with the officials of
government agencies, educational experts, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and other stakeholders. CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory’s team of
urban sector experts, who tied up with the MoUD, have been mandated by
MoUD to appraise reforms under the JNNURM programme.

The old
CDP was prepared in 2007 but as per the guidelines of Government of
India in 2011, there is a need of revised CDP, Tripathi added.