The New Indian Express 25.08.2010
State looks to Gujarat for better city planning
BANGALORE: State government's quest for emulating the Gujarat model continues in town planning too. For, it is seriously contemplating to adopt Gujarat's town planning scheme, which is said to be devoid of land acquisition problems.Urban Development Minister S Sureshkumar on Tuesday told reporters that the Gujarat town planning scheme allowed farmers who lose their land to become partners in projects taken up by urban development authorities.
"As a result, farmers are more than willing to part with their land without creating any problem," he said.
He said Karnataka government wanted to emulate the scheme with a few changes to suit the conditions here.
The minister, who held review meeting of all the head of urban development authorities in the state, said the government was also planning to bring a Bill akin to the New Delhi Town Planning Act to draft master plan for urban development.
"The local bodies in the state are presently governed by the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, which is almost five decades old. Therefore, the state government is contemplating an amendment to suit the present day needs,'' he added.
The draft would be ready in the next two months, he added.
Responding to a question, he said that a clear instruction had been given to all authorities to not entertain any land use change proposal at least for two years from the date the master plan was adopted in their respective areas.
