Bangalore’s revised development plan awaits govt nod

PUBLIC SUGGESTIONS SOUGHT
Bangalore’s revised development plan awaits govt nod
The Times of India

Bangalore: The draft of Bangalore’s revised Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), prepared by the BDA, is before the government for approval. The plan chalks out a growth strategy for the city and will chart out the city’s growth up to 2015 covering 1,279 sq km.

According to BDA commissioner M.N. Vidyashankar, CDP revision has been in the making for nearly two years now. SCE, a French company, was given the contract to prepare the plan with inputs from BWSSB, Bescom, BCC and forest department.

The first draft of the revised CDP came out recently. “Once the government approves it, we will put it before the public and seek suggestions over a 60-day period,’’ Vidyashankar said.

According to him, the Rs 8-crore project involves every aspect of the city’s growth. “The CDP has for convenience sake, divided the city into 47 districts,’’ he said.

When the CDP was in the making, some NGOs had complained that they were left out. They objected to the fact that a French company was given the contract. However, Vidyashankar denied the charge saying: “The contract went to SCE because of their technical know-how.”

But given that the BWSSB has a masterplan till 2025 for the city, there was also a thinking that the CDP would be redundant. “The BWSSB’s plan relates to water supply and underground drainage, the CDP looks at overall growth. It talks of three scenarios — slow, normal and high growth,” the commissioner stressed.

The project is being funded through an Indo-French protocol under which the BDA gets funds from governments of India and France. As per the protocol, the CDP should be ready by June.