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Urban Planning

Disaster management without gear?

Monday, 14 June 2010 08:37 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle       14.06.2010

Disaster management without gear?

June 14th, 2010
Tags: Disaster management, poor infrastructure

June 13: The wireless facility announced for corporation workers in 2005 to tackle disasters like earthquake and tsunami is yet to reach them. Corporation sources said no proper equipment, uniforms and gloves for disaster management, had been given to the civic staff till date.

The sources said the worst part was that a majority of the constructions in the city were not earthquake resistant and since the city was located in a moderate seismic zone, there was an immediate need for creating awareness among residents about reducing vulnerability during natural calamities.

In fact, in 2005, the then special officer for disaster management, R. Santhanam, in his report on ‘Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project’ prepared by compiling information provided by the corporation and CMDA said that several buildings in Chennai were vulnerable to earthquake and the city needed a disaster management squad. The report said Coimbatore was also in a moderate seismic zone.

When asked about the delay in distributing gear for disaster management, mayor M Subramanian said the issue had to be studied for necessary action. He said wireless communication was available in the zonal offices for rescue work during emergency.

According to corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni, the union government provides the tsunami alert and earthquake information. And for Chennai, Hyderabad-based INCOIS provides alerts. He said on Saturday night there were no such alerts.

Mr Lakhoni said the corporation did have a module of continuous action plan to rescue people in case of a disaster. He said the civic body had recently organised disaster management awareness programmes for the public.

 

Lack of planning hits growth of TN cities

Friday, 11 June 2010 08:24 administrator
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The New Indian Express      11.06.2010

Lack of planning hits growth of TN cities


 

CHENNAI: The development of cities across Tamil Nadu has hit a roadblock due to lack of appropriate planning and infrastructure and this will affect the growth of the State, according to town planners.

Shivakumar, secretary, Indian Institute of Town Planners, TN chapter, on Thursday said that the planning of cities like Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchy has been done haphazardly and surprisingly most of them were still instructed to follow the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority's (CMDA) development regulations.

"Each city is geographically different and should follow regulations which suit them but they still follow the development regulations of CMDA after a circular was issued by the then Chief Secretary L K Tripathi," he said.

Interestingly, there are master plans for the TierII cities but they are yet to be implemented. "Its been more than 2030 years since the plans were submitted but the government is yet to issue a notification," said K R Thooyavan, an Urban Planning Consultant and retired Chief Planner of CMDA.

According to Dr Thooyavan,the State government has woken up now and is incorporating all master plans in district development plan. "Currently, the State Planning Commission is reviewing formation of Metropolitan Planning Committee and District Planning Committee as per the 73rd and 74th amendment under the 12th Schedule," he said.However, he said that the district planning committees should include qualified town planners. Currently, under district planning there was no role of a town planner.

According to private planning consultant K M Sadanandh, the real issue is the lack of town planners. He said that TN required about 600 town planners in 2010 to meet the demand of both government and private sectors, which meant one town player for every 1,00,000 population, according to an estimate. "Even CMDA which currently requires about 100 planners, has employed only 40 qualified town planners," he rued.

Dr Abdul Razak, professor of Town Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, felt the shortage could be resolved if there were more universities offering town planning courses. He felt Anna University, which offered a master's degree in planning should start a bachelor's course too.

Meanwhile, with the sudden spurt in the population in cities, there has been a growth of slums. To control this, plans should focus on social, physical as well as economic aspects of the cities.

Sadanandh said the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) should be expanded as it was being done in other cities like Hyderabad and Delhi.

Last Updated on Friday, 11 June 2010 08:27
 

Local bodies to grant plan approvals up to 4,000 sq.ft.

Thursday, 10 June 2010 05:34 administrator
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The Hindu      10.06.2010

Local bodies to grant plan approvals up to 4,000 sq.ft.

Special Correspondent

Directorate of Town and Country Planning delegates powers

As a follow-up to a commitment given by the government in the Assembly

The order has come into effect from June 1

TIRUCHI: The Directorate of Town and Country Planning has delegated powers to local bodies to grant plan approvals for residential buildings up to 4,000 square feet and for commercial buildings up to 2,000 square feet.

Till now, local bodies had powers to grant plans approvals for residential buildings up to 2,000 square feet and for commercial buildings up to 1,000 square feet.

The move comes as a follow-up to a commitment given by the government in the Assembly during the Housing and Urban Development Department grants for 2010-11. It was announced that local bodies in places other than the Chennai Metropolitan area would be delegated powers to grant plans up to 4,000 sq.ft.

In an executive order dated May 25, the Director of Town and Country Planning said local bodies under Local Planning Authority/New Town Development Authority had been given powers to grant plan approvals and technical sanction (if the local body was under unnotified master plan) for residential buildings up to 4,000 square feet with four units in ground plus two floors and for commercial buildings up to 2,000 square feet in ground and first floor. The order has come into effect from June 1, according to an official press release.

The approvals can be granted as per Sec.49 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 and subject to all existing rules under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, Tamil Nadu Panchayats Building Rules and layout rules.

Sources in the Tiruchi Corporation said that local bodies stand to benefit from the order as it could bring in more revenue.

This would also save much trouble for applicants who had to go through three agencies to get the approvals.

Last Updated on Thursday, 10 June 2010 05:37
 
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