The initial meeting of external consultants from Gurgaon was held
recently and the final document is expected to be charted within the
next two to three months. But the fact that the civic budget will have
no link to the city development plan is a cause for concern, as projects
continue to be proposed in a haphazard manner.

“The delay in
preparing the city development plan has resulted in this scenario. If it
was ready, the civic body could have coordinated some financial
allocations with the development plan,” said D Balasundaram, Chairman,
City Technical Advisory Group (CTAG).

The CTAG, an external
body of experts from various urban sectors set up to provide external
support to the corporation while conceptualising and executing major
developmental works in the city was not even consulted once during the
run up to the formulation of the budget proposals. The CTAG
and city development plans are integral components formed after the
launch of the JNNURM projects to ensure public participation and install
an external support system comprising members of civil society to help
in formulating and executing development projects.

“The civic
body should show more trust in the civil society. It is always better to
consult with residents rather than appointing consultants from other
states who have to understand the city from scratch before proposing
various projects,” Balasundaram added.

The city corporation had
earlier indicated that it would re-organise the CTAG with the inclusion
of more members and formation of various sub committees. Though
applications were collected from interested residents including retired
engineers from government departments, the corporation is yet to take
the final call in the matter.

According to corporation
officials themselves, the City Development Plan is an important document
to chart the progress of the city at least for the coming decade and
proposals to be taken up under JNNURM gets sanctioned from the Union
ministry if it is included in the development plan. It also serves as a
reference document for the local civic body to chart its allocation for
the various projects in advance.