The work on the master plan for the city, which had come to a halt a few months ago, is set to restart, with the National Remote Sensing Centre making available satellite images of the city after much delay. The ground-level surveys and ward-level meetings will begin soon, with the master plan expected to be completed within eight months, way past the initial deadline.
According to officials of the Town Planning department, the ground-level survey will take into account the land use patterns for each piece of land.
“We need to assess the ground situation with the maps, on the land use patterns and the purpose for which a particular building seen on the map is used for. We have also collected survey numbers as part of this exercise and another map is being prepared.
The master plan comes under the Central government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which has stringent norms on the survey to assess land use patterns,” an official said.
The city Corporation will, at the same time, organise ward-level consultations. At these meetings, a detailed presentation regarding the current land use status of each ward will be provided to the local residents.
Their feedback will be taken into consideration in the preparation of the plan.
The local body had earlier decided to involve the public from all the hundred wards of the Corporation in the process to prepare the master plan, as it had to face public protests due to issues in the previous draft master plan.
Previous plan
Meetings will also be held with stakeholders from various sectors.
Four years ago, in February 2014, the draft master plan 2031 was withdrawn following widespread complaints. Areas within the Kattayikkonam, Mangottukonam, Attipra, and Kadakampally wards were marked as strategic zones in that master plan.
The requests for building permits from these areas were being rejected after the draft master plan came into effect. This had led to widespread protests in the region.