The Hindu     30.08.2012

Three-fourths of Indian cities functioning without a Master Plan

A large number of cities across the country continue to function without a Master Plan, despite the Centre offering funds to carry out the exercise and the recognised benefits of a plan. The Union Urban Development Ministry on Wednesday claimed that only 24 per cent of the total cities and towns have a Master Plan.

Secretary Urban Development, Sudhir Krishna used Delhi and its water-logged roads as an illustration of just how important a Master Plan is for a city. “The Master Plan should include information on all the crucial aspects of a city, for instance the natural drain network. There should be a detailed map of the natural drains, because they eventually join together to become a river. The plans should be futuristic, they should contain all details of roads, networks, utilities and even housing for the economically weaker sections,” he said.

Mr. Krishan said though Delhi has a “rich Master Plan”, there is scope for improvement. He advocated strengthening of local government and local bodies, simplification of laws and increasing people’s participation to improve city planning.

Mr. Krishna, however, declined to comment on how many cities, including Delhi, have followed the Master Plan and not violated its provisions.

“It is necessary to have a Master Plan because special planning is needed for all cities and towns especially in terms of improving local governance. Drafting a plan costs between Rs.25 lakh to Rs.1 crore depending upon the size of the city; planning authorities should not have any problems spending money on its preparation as they returns are much more through development charges,” Mr. Krishna said.

Urging all cities and towns to create a Master Plan that includes sub-urban areas and regional mobility plans, Mr. Krishna said Master Plan that are currently drafted with a 10-year time-frame, should ideally be futuristic and span over 50 years.

As an incentive to cities to focus on plans for better development, the Ministry is in the process of developing GIS database as part of its National Urban Information System (NUIS) Scheme being carried out on a pilot basis for 152 towns and cities. Satellite image for all these places have been procured and will be used for developing spatial and attribute database, develop urban indices and build capacity at urban and local levels.

The Ministry is of view that the NUIS can help save time, and offer complete database required by local bodies for the formulation of Master Plan. The NUIS offers accurate and updated base maps that are required for planning, Mr. Krishna said.