Ray of hope for city’s stuck Development Plan

Ray of hope for city's stuck Development Plan

As amendment to Town Planning Act puts onus on state govt to expeditiously approve DPs, city growth plan submitted in 2005 may get nod this year; Mayor expects approval to come through in two months

Tou00a0ensure planned development by considering the next 20 to 25 years of the city's growth, the Development Plan (DP) of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was submitted in 2005. It is still gathering dust with the state government.

Waiting for approval: The development plan has details of residential
places, gardens, hospitals and road-widening works in the city

But now there is a ray of hope. Approval for the new DP may soon come through as an amendment has been made in the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act of 1966. This shall put pressure on the state government to approve DPs in less than four-and-half years.

The issue of city's long-pending DP has been discussed in the State Assembly many times, but nothing has happened since it was submitted to the Urban Development Department (UDD) of the government, which comes within the purview of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

100 DPs pending
The 45-page huge document of Legislative Assembly Bill (LXXXIX-39) of 2010 has been passed just few days ago. Amendments in sections 21 to 30 were made which are related to speeding up the process of approving the DPs of cities submitted by the respective municipal corporations and municipal councils.

"Now the bill shall get converted into an act soon," sources in the UDD said. There are over 100 DPs, including one submitted by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), pending with the UDD for approval, the source added. Also, the proposed Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is yet to get
established.u00a0

No excuses now
Sadhana Naik, former deputy director, Town Planning, Pune, said the government has to act upon the DP this year itself as there are some major amendments in the MRTP Act. According to Naik, the PMC DP is a legal document bound with the development control regulations of the city and gives detailed land use plan for the future.

"It also deals with a detailed plan of residential places, public gardens, hospitals, police stations, road-widening activities and other issues related to sustainable city planning for the next 20 years," she said. Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal said that it was high time that the DP got approved by the government and the approval would start long-awaited works in the city.

"As per the latest developments and amendments in the MRTP act it (DP) shall get approved in the next two months," he said.u00a0 Vikas Bhandari, an architect and town planning expert, said that there were many controversies about the city's DP, but whatever may be the case it should be approved this year and the new amendments in theu00a0 town planning act may make a positive impact on the government.u00a0 "So far, many developments in the city are held up only because of the DP approval," he said.

Slow development
> PMC could enforce only 35 per cent of the 1987 DP till date. A proposal for revising the same DP is yet pending.
> PCMC's DP which was submitted in 2005 was partially approved in 2006 and implementation of some of its recommendation has already begun
> Even before the state could do it, the Gujarat Government has successfully used the TP scheme as a tool for the rapid urban development in many of its cities