Wednesday, August 9, 2017

TN prepares blueprint for sustainable urban growth

Rs 50 cr regional plan proposed by
Directorate of Town and Country Planning

Chennai:
The concept of planned development is so far limited only to cities
and its extended areas. But perhaps for the first time the state
government is embarking on a framing a “regional plan” that would
include land use pattern for the entire state, except the Chennai
Metropolitan Area.

Sources privy to the matter said the “regional plan” would be similar
to the master plans that cities like Chennai and Coimbatore have. But
the new plan, since it covers much of the state, would aim for
preservation of agricultural lands and natural habitats. The main
objective of the plan was to prepare a roadmap for balanced growth
across the state with 2050 as the horizon year.

It is learnt that the Directorate of Town and Country Planning has
estimated the cost of preparing the regional plan at around Rs 50
crore and a consultant would be engaged for the purpose. Sources told
Express that such a regional plan covering entire state is required to
manage a sustainable urban growth.

Since the urban planning is presently done only to cities and its
extended areas, hardly five percent of the state’s landscape is coming
under planned growth. The developments in rest of the areas are mostly
haphazard. Out of 1.28 lakh square metres of area coming under
Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), only 0.07 lakh square
metres presently has some sort of a master plan.

The new “regional plan” will map various factors like agro-climatic
zones, eco-sensitive zones, groundwater, green and forest cover, urban
heat island, biodiversity, pollution levels of water, soil, land and
air. The prepare the plan, a consultant with regional planning
expertise using Geographic Information System could be engaged.
Sources said tenders to select the consultant would be awarded after
constituting a Tender Accepting Authority, which will include
Commissioner of Town and Country Planning and representative from
housing and finance departments and chief planner of Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority.

The move of the state government comes in the back drop of Union
government asking Tamil Nadu to prepare master plan for 32 cities in
Tamil Nadu, which have been selected under the Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

As per norms, state has to create GIS based land use master plan for
all Amrut cities. The 32 cities are part of 500 cities, which the
Centre plans to fund a 10-year development programme with an
investment of Rs 2 lakh crore.

A study by The New Climate Economy, released by The Global Commission
on the Economy and Climate has predicted that India’s urban population
is expected to cross 600 million by 2031 and the growth which is
largely taking place on the fringe of cities is unplanned and outside
the purview of city codes and by-laws.

What the regional plan will do:
1. It will map proposed institutional areas and its location in peri-urban areas
2. It will identify major economic hubs and industrial estates
3. Preferred locations and norms for regional landfill site
4. Bring in regional landuse plan and development controls
5. Proposals for MSME clusters
6. Growth areas and satellite townships
7. Development corridors and transit oriented developments


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