The green belt and its benefit to a growing city

The green belt and its benefit to a growing city
Deccan Herald

In the light of the recent controversy over the proposal to allow for shrinkage in the allotted area for the green belt, let us go into the need for the green belt concept in the development plans for cities K Sukumaran.

Urbanisation

Migration of population from villages to towns and cities has been a phenomenon of the 20th century and continues to persist well in the 21st. This tendency appears to be the result of man’s insatiable pursuit of pleasures by exploiting the existing natural resources to the hilt.

Urbanisation leads to ecological imbalances consequent to changes in land use pattern. In cities like Bangalore, population multiplies at 40 per cent every decade. No growth plan will normally be adequate to meet the growing needs of infrastructure. Further, pollution levels are always on the rise. Coupled with the ozone effect, the challenge to contain ‘environmental carbon’ poses multiple threats.

One of the ways to combat pollution is afforestation and the green revolution. Agricultural land should be left free for farming. As the city grows unbridled, it becomes all the more necessary to redouble plans for checking the toxic effect.

Green belt plan

In the initial stages, there was no need to specify green belt area as larger areas were freely available compared to the development. This is why the 1972 plan, the earliest in the series of development plans, doesn’t appear to have had any green belt stipulations. The first State-supported and well demarcated green belt proposal for Bangalore, perhaps, was mooted in the 1995 development plan intended to be implemented for the period 1995-2005.

As per this plan, an area of 742 sqkms around the city was notified as a ‘Green belt’. It was decided to leave this area for ‘lung space’ prohibiting any sort of industrial or residential activity in this area. Initiatives like the Urban Environment Improvement and Land Management were put in place to ensure against violations.

Growth

The burgeoning population and industrialisation of the city and its suburbs necessitated development of industrial infrastructure and residential localities. This lead to a rethinking of the original development plan and various alternative proposals were mooted to combat the growth. An Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project (IUEIP) was also put in place, covering certain parts of the city, to pursue urban environment from an integrated view point. While these exercises were on, Bangalore City had in fact, utilised the land-use allocation up to 2011 by 2003 itself and this compelled the authorities to quickly revise the plans further.

Some latest plans

In order to manage the growing needs of the City and in accordance with the terms of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, which lays down a revision in the master plan every ten years, the first Comprehensive Development Plan(CDP) was prepared in the year 1984. The revised CDP was prepared in 1995. The latest master plan to be in force till 2015, prepared by the Bangalore Development Authority recently, covering an anticipated population of 88 lakh, is now under display for public viewing.

The approved plan covering a Local Planning Area of 1306 sqkms consisting of 387 villages, seven City Municipal Councils and one Town Municipal Council, is on display, inviting comments from the public.

It is seen that this plan proposes to reduce the green belt area by 248 sqkms, which would be deregulated for development. This area, mainly in the northern and eastern part of Bangalore, will be made available for urbanisation and industrial development. This plan covers Bangalore North Taluk, Bangalore South Taluk, Bangalore East, part of Anekal Taluk, part of Hoskote Taluk, Devanahalli (partly), Magadi (partly) and Nelamangala (partly). It is proposed to protect tanks and valleys in and around. The green belt is going to be 40 per cent of the CDP of 1995.

Public outcry

The proposed reduction in the green belt has invited adverse comments from the citizens, especially, the environmentalists. Justifiably, the objections need to be viewed in the light of the health hazards it can bring in, adding to the city’s vows arising out of the increased pollution from transport vehicles and other pro pollution industrial activities.

The topography of the city and nearby areas which creates an emission layer in the atmosphere contributing to already existing health hazards need to be tackled effectively.

Greener B’lore plans

To counter the objections from environmentalists, and to supplement the number of trees cut down in the last couple of years by the Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BMP) in the guise of road widening and traffic requirements, the Horticultural Department and the BCC have finalised a massive plan for planting saplings in all available open spaces. This governmental initiative is to be implemented with the active involvement of NGOs, Schools and other citizens’ organisations. The proposal is to plant nearly 50,000 saplings in and around the City. The Horticultural Department is encouraging citizens to participate in this novel programme.

Future plans

The Vision 2015 map embodies many aspects for developing Bangalore into an international city. It provides a ‘strategic vision for the city’. The basic principles of the plan are respect for the natural environment, economic efficiency, social equity, preservation of historical heritage, efficient and affordable transport system, etc, which are laudable, though implementation of most of these principles are not within the ambit of the BDA’s role.

One can only hope the state government will take adequate steps to translate the principles enunciated as part of the Plan to reality. Co-ordinated efforts by various agencies can perhaps enable Bangalore to retain its ‘Garden City’ tag at least for some more time.