BDA is yet to effect changes in Comprehensive Development Plan

BDA is yet to effect changes in Comprehensive Development Plan

The Hindu

By the end of the next month, we should be ready to send the plan to the Government, says official

# It is 10 months now after the draft plan was placed before the public
# The BDA developed it in association with French consultants, SCE Creocean India Private Limited
# The plan covers an area of 1,306 square kilometres
# It takes into account growth till 2020

BANGALORE: Ten months after the draft Comprehensive Development Plan developed by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) was placed before the public for opinions, changes to it have not been made so that it can be sent for Government approval.

Rapid change

A. Raghunandan, a resident, says, "The landscape in changing so rapidly in the city that by the time the BDA sends the plan to the Government, some of its provisions may have to be altered."

Durga Prasad, another resident, says, "The BDA is taking so long to present the plan that we have even forgotten what it contains."

The draft master plan, which was developed in association with French consultants, SCE Creocean India Private Limited, covers an area of 1,306 square kilometres along with seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council.

It takes into account growth till 2020 and is organised around five concentric plans — the core area consisting of the central business district, the pettai and administrative area; the peri-central area comprising recent extensions; new layouts and the green belt.

Independent panel

The BDA received 7,300 opinions/complaints from the two-month public viewing of the draft master plan.

An independent panel, under the chairmanship of P.S.S. Thomas, a retired civil servant, was set up to review all the opinions.

The committee came up with 15 proposals, including a recommendation to maintain the green belt and prevent mixed zoning in residential areas.

However, since the Thomas panel did not have time to go into each of the opinions and reply to them, the BDA set up its own three-member committee, headed by the town planner, to look into the issue.

It is at this committee that the files have been for the past six months.

Members of the BDA committee say they have been meeting every day for the past six months to look into the public opinions.

"It is tedious work. We have to often go to the sites and see what the individual has spoken about," says a BDA official.

However, the official adds, that the committee will most probably finish its review by the first week of next month.

"By the end of the next month, we should be ready to send the draft plan to the Government," he says.