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Master Plan

Surat Municipal Corporation relocates over 600 families

Saturday, 20 April 2013 11:20 administrator
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The Times of India                20.04.2013

Surat Municipal Corporation relocates over 600 families

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is ready with the master plan for development of Gopi Talav slum area that will be soon free from encroachment. More than 600 families have been relocated and another 900 are also expected to be relocated by this month end to the economically weaker section (EWS) quarters in different parts of the city. The development of 13,934 .88sq metres of land outside Gopi Talav will give the historic 15th century lake site a majestic view. This SMC land lies opposite DKM Hospital and spreads up to the front portion of Navsari Bazaar.

"The master plan is ready for the additional free land outside the Gopi Talav lake. We plan to use this land for public use," municipal commissioner Manoj Das said.

"The demolition and evacuation would be over before April 30," said GV Gohel, executive engineer, central zone.

The Rs 23-crore Gopi Talav Redevelopment Project would be implemented in three phases and would have an amphitheatre, a snow park, a preserved step well and a jetty among other things. The old city doesn't have a single recreational spot and the project would be the first getaway for people in this area. The project is likely to be completed by the year-end as over 70 per cent work is complete.
Last Updated on Saturday, 20 April 2013 11:22
 

Master Plan stresses development of 17 pockets in the periphery

Monday, 08 April 2013 09:50 administrator
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The Indian Express                      08.04.2013

Master Plan stresses development of 17 pockets in the periphery

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The size of these pockets varies from 30 acres to more than 400 acres. Express archives

The draft of the Master Plan for Chandigarh has outlined development of 17 pockets in the periphery. With the land within the city being scarce, the planning of the patches of vacant land in the periphery has been planned out.

Of the total of 2,968 acres of area in these pockets for which development plan has been prepared, the maximum area, 1.51 per cent, has been earmarked for agricultural purposes. Land has been proposed to be allocated for residential, commercial and industrial use. The size of these pockets varies from 30 acres to more than 400 acres.

The original plan for the city was for a population of 5 lakh people. With the number having more than doubled, optimum use of the land available is required. The development outside of the grid has been irregular. While designing the city, Le Corbusier had proposed a green buffer around it. However, over the past few years, the boundary between Chandigarh and Punjab has been vanishing with some areas so intermingled that it has become difficult to see where Chandigarh ends and UT begins. In fact, in some sectors, a patch belongs to Punjab and another to Chandigarh.

Keeping this in view, several pockets have been identified where green belts up to 30-metre width would be constructed to segregate the boundaries. These would be near Sarangpur and Dhanas along with some other areas.

Sarangpur would be kept largely as an institutional area. In this area as well as in pockets like Dhanas, low-density residential areas would be permitted. In other places like pocket 6 near Sector 38 (W) and pocket 7 comprising Maloya high-density residential area has been proposed. This is due to the presence of rehabilitation colonies in these areas.

In certain pockets, the land use would be restricted to having green or open spaces. Activities like farming and horticulture would be the only ones permitted. These are areas like pocket 11 comprising Raipur Khurd and Pocket 12 along Chandigarh-Ambala highway. In pockets 9 and 10, only landscaping would be allowed in the area near the railway tracks opposite Sector 48.

No construction activity would be allowed in Kaimbwala and Khuda Alisher. Land in Kaimbwala would be acquired for making the wildlife corridor. While this proposal has been doing the rounds for some time, the land is yet to be acquired. The land also forms part of catchment area of the Sukhna Lake.

In pocket 8 near Sector 56, a new transport area is proposed for which 45 acres of land would be earmarked. A bulk material market, warehousing have been proposed here while a second grain market is proposed in pocket 7 near Maloya. It is proposed that warehouses would be permitted near Daria village.

In order to increase the connectivity of these pockets, extension of roads has also been proposed. To segregate the residential area, it is proposed to extend the road dividing pocket A and B of 38 (W) to meet extension of Dakshin Marg. A 100-ft wide road has been proposed between Vikas Marg via Maloya Rehabilitation Colony and existing road along Patiala ki Rao Choe.

With the city lacking any marriage palace and the residents having to go to the outskirts for holding functions, a marriage palace has been proposed in pocket 6. Earlier proposals mooted for marriage palace have failed to take off.

 

Corporation seeking firm to create master plan

Thursday, 28 March 2013 07:37 administrator
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The New Indian Express                   28.03.2013

Corporation seeking firm to create master plan

The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is on the lookout for a suitable firm to create a master plan for the ambitious Solar City project which aims at tapping solar power and, in the long run, lessening the city’s dependence on conventional energy sources.

A Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) project, Thiruvananthapuram is one of 48 cities in the country and two in the state - the other is Kochi - shortlisted to become Solar Cities. The City Corporation on Wednesday invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) from empanelled agencies for preparing a detailed master plan for transforming Thiruvananthapuram into a ‘city of the sun.’

After being selected for the project last year, the city council had adopted resolutions for forming a ‘Solar City Cell’ and a ‘Solar City Stakeholders Cell’ towards 2012 end. Every city shortlisted for the project stands to get Rs 50 lakh financial assistance from the MNRE. Of this, Rs 10 lakh is for preparing a master plan.

 ‘’The idea is to tap solar energy as much as possible and encourage individuals and institutions to do this. The capital city’s electricity consumption is soaring and the Corporation’s power bill itself has witnessed an increase by Rs 2-3 crore per year,’’ said Corporation works standing committee chairman V S Padmakumar.

The MNRE initiative aims at lowering a city’s use of conventional energy sources by ten per cent in five years by exploiting the sun and through energy conservation measures.

The features of a Solar City include solar-powered streetlights, green buildings and grid-connected rooftop solar projects. Many such projects have already been independently launched in the city. Additionally, the State Government has also announced a state-wide Solar Homes project for installing rooftop solar power units in households.

Alongside solar power, wind energy, bio-mass, small hydel projects and waste-to-energy projects also will be encouraged in the endeavour to make the city energy-sufficient.

 
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