Indian Express 04.08.2010
Draft of master plan for city will be ready by December, Admn tells HC
Express News Service Tags : corporation, master plan Posted: Wed Aug 04 2010, 01:50 hrs
Chandigarh: The draft of the master plan for the city will be ready by December this year. The was submitted in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the UT Administration today. The statement was made during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Gurbax Singh, a local resident, demanding a master plan for the city.An affidavit filed by Sumit Kaur, Chief Architect, Department of Urban Planning, Chandigarh Administration, was placed on record by senior standing counsel for UT, Sanjay Kaushal.
The senior standing counsel submitted that so far 20 meetings of the Master Plan Committee have been held. The committee has deliberated upon various issues including “cheap housing accommodation; parking in commercial areas; renaming of streets; heritage buildings and catchment area of Sukhna Lake at Saketri.
“The gap findings/ short falls and adequacy of the infrastructure available in the city, problems and potentials have been identified,” Kaushal added.
Meanwhile, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari asked the three states to have an “integrated plan for the periphery of the city” rather than having separate master plans. “Don’t put cart before the horse” Justice Ajay Tewari told the counsels appearing on behalf of the three states.
On the other hand, Advocate Onkar Singh Batalvi, counsel for the Central government, placed on record the minutes of meeting held between Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The 18 th meeting of the coordination committee for Development of Chandigarh was held on June 28 in New Delhi.
The affidavit reads that the “Joint Secretary (Urban Development) has suggested that the work of integration could be carried out by a Committee of Secretaries of the two states and Chandigarh UT Chief Planner, Town and Country Planning Office (TCPO) stated that three types of plans will have to be prepared”.
The first one would be a master plan for Chandigarh, the second will be the integrated plan for peripheral areas of Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana and the third one will be the Inter-State Regional Plan which shall comprise Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and some parts of Himachal Pradesh.
“ While preparing the Master Plan for Chandigarh, detailed exercises will have to be undertaken viz preparation of base map; collation of primary and secondary date; conducting primary surveys; analysis of existing situation; identification of potentials, constraints and development issues and proposals for the future development,” reads the affidavit.
