The Times of India 31.08.2012
Most 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. According
to the Union Urban Development Ministry, only 24 per cent of the cities
and towns have a Master Plan.
Union Urban Development
Secretary Sudhir Krishna uses 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 says.
Mr. Krishan
says 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, declines
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 says.
Urging all
cities and towns to create a Master Plan that includes sub-urban areas
and regional mobility plans, Mr. Krishna says 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, says Mr. Krishna.
