For the residents of around 50 wards in the Corporation area, the
State government’s notification of the Interim Development Order (IDO)
in the city Corporation two days ago, has come as a relief.

Ever
since the freezing of the previous Draft Master Plan three years ago,
residents in several wards have been facing issues to get their building
permits approved. When the draft master plan 2013 was scrapped due to
opposition from residents, close to 50 wards, which were added to the
Corporation in recent years, ended up without a sanctioned master plan.

Core areas

Only
the core areas of the city comes under the previous sanctioned master
plan, prepared in 1971. Without an Interim Development Order in place,
building permit applications in such areas that came near green strips
had to be forwarded from the Corporation to the Regional Town Planner.
There have been quite a few rejections in this period. In the IDO,
residential buildings till 300 square metres are allowed in plots of
area between 3 and 10 cents. In the case of plots of area between 10 and
25 cents, residential buildings till 400 square metres are allowed. All
other construction purposes are limited to 200 square metres.

But,
former Additional Chief Town Planner Jacob Easow who prepared the
Master Plan of 2013, has criticised the delay in issuing the Interim
Development Order. “The first master plan was prepared for period 1966
to 1986. Even though the second master plan was prepared and later
published in 1994, it was not sanctioned by the State government. After
19 years, the third master plan (draft) was prepared and published in
2013, but it was scrapped due to several objections. Now an Interim
Development Order(IDO) has been released. This could have been done in
2013 or 2014 itself. Why did we waste all this time in issuing the IDO?”
he asks. However, Corporation officials say that the IDO could not have
been initiated until the preparation of the new Master Plan had
officially begun.

New master plan

“The process to
prepare the new Master Plan began only earlier this year. So, IDO could
be notified only after that,” said the official.

The IDO will be in force until the approval of the new Master Plan.

Though
December was the earlier deadline for the Master Plan, it is expected
to take at least an year more, going by its current pace.

The IDO could have been released in 2013 or 2014 itself. Why did we waste all this time in issuing it?

Jacob Easow

Former Additional Chief Town Planner