Take Population Pattern And Growing Civic Needs Into Account While Planning …Sharad Vyas | TNN
The BMC is looking at twenty-first-century solutions for twenty-firstcentury problems as it goes about formulating a new development plan for Mumbai.
A development plan is the frame that planners keep in mind as they go about adding to the citys infrastructure. A development plan is used for two decades and, after this time runs out, a new development plan replaces the old one. This is what is happening right now; the existing development plan, in place since the early 1990s, will be replaced by a new set of guidelines in 2013.
Mumbai, as it continues on its path of rapid growth, will need more space for dumping grounds and slum-rehabilitation projects more water and a better sewerage system. A panel, comprising BMC additional municipal commissioners and engineers and former bureaucrats, has identified these and other key sectors which will have to cope with growing demands. It has recommended, for the first time, that the BMC look at several new factors like population pattern and holistic development of entire zones to arrive at solutions.
The need for space cannot be denied, a senior BMC official said. There is an urgent need for dumping grounds, for instance, because of the massive amount of debris that new infrastructure projects (like Metro) will generate. Space is also needed to construct more water tunnels and sewer lines to
cater to Mumbais growing
needs.
cater to Mumbais growing
needs.
The panel, taking all this into account and feeling that the BMC alone may not have the necessary manpower, has recommended that private firms be roped in to carry out studies on the pattern of population growth and the use of land in different zones.
Private help will also be enlisted to identify the open space required for the citys infrastructure needs. All these inputs will then become the
basis of the blue-print of the citys development over the next 20 years.
The BMC has also asked the state government to appoint a town-planning officer who will help to formulate and implement the revised development plan.
The BMC panel, at a recent meeting, conceded that the current development plan was prepared with the sole objective of re d u c i n g congestion in Mumbai and was not based on specialised studies on e c o n o m i c and infrastructure development. The revised plan should identify critical areas like transportation and employment-generation. And the vision document for it should be prepared by private experts, panel member and former bureaucrat D T Joseph said. The plan will earmark hawking zones, identify new dumping grounds, estimate the need for more water and chalk out slum-rehabilitation projects. The previous plan did not provide land for dumping grounds and did not identify hawking zones, additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev said.
basis of the blue-print of the citys development over the next 20 years.
The BMC has also asked the state government to appoint a town-planning officer who will help to formulate and implement the revised development plan.
The BMC panel, at a recent meeting, conceded that the current development plan was prepared with the sole objective of re d u c i n g congestion in Mumbai and was not based on specialised studies on e c o n o m i c and infrastructure development. The revised plan should identify critical areas like transportation and employment-generation. And the vision document for it should be prepared by private experts, panel member and former bureaucrat D T Joseph said. The plan will earmark hawking zones, identify new dumping grounds, estimate the need for more water and chalk out slum-rehabilitation projects. The previous plan did not provide land for dumping grounds and did not identify hawking zones, additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev said.
The revised plan will also take into account new townships coming up on the outskirts of the city. The plan should consider key growth-drivers like business districts and township projects, additional municipal commissioner (projects) Manu Kumar Srivastava said.