The Hindu   13.08.2012

How is master plan going to treat the capital city?

How intelligently is the interim master plan of Thiruvananthapuram city, to be ready in two months, planning to use the land in the capital city?

The query was foremost on the minds of most of the participants of a seminar, held as part of the CREDAI Property Show that concluded on Sunday.

According to Deputy Mayor Happy Kumar, the master plan is outdated, posing a hurdle in initiating developmental plans for the city. His other main concern is the lack of expertise in the preparation of the plan.

“Many Corporation officials are not aware of the importance of the master plan and are inexperienced. They need sufficient help from the experts in this field. Though we will be able to bring out an interim plan in two months, I am not sure how far the plan can address the issues in the city,” he said.

Mr. Kumar said the master plan required the participation of expert companies, who can make valuable suggestions and join with the Corporation to make it comprehensive.

“However, the Corporation does not have the authority to appoint any such private agencies. But if the government takes the initiative to outsource the work to companies that has the expertise in this field, then an efficient updated master plan of the city can be made,” he said.

Speaking on the subject Urban Planning and Master Plan, secretary-general of CREDAI Kerala S.N. Reghuchandran Nair said unless there was a clear-cut idea about the area of land use and an updated plan on the developing sites of the city, the city would no more be able to handle the rapid urbanisation.

According to the latest State Urbanisation Report, the State recorded a very high rate of urbanisation, scoring 83.82 percentage over the previous decade. This means there will be acute scarcity of land, which calls for a well-planned land usage.

“A major hurdle is that most often land records and data for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping are not accurate or not available. A developing area such as Technopark does not find a place in the old master plan. Even when the government is proposing the Emerging Kerala scheme, very little is done about devising a plan for the development,” Mr. Nair said.

The CREDAI Property Show, organised by the CREDAI in association with the State Bank of India, had the participation of as many as 23 builders and 14 non-builders in the State.