Urban planners have called for the constitution of a metropolitan planning committee (MPC) for Kozhikode in the wake of reports that the city has topped the list of urban centres in the country in terms of the growth of urban population and the expansion of the urban area.
The Constitution makes it mandatory for States to set up MPCs in areas with population of 10 lakh and above. Besides, it is easy for the government to constitute an MPC based on the provisions of the Kerala Municipal Act, 1994.
This is more relevant when the Calicut Development Authority (CDA), which had jurisdiction over the Kozhikode Corporation, Ramanattukkara and Feroke municipalities, and Kunnamangalam, Peruvayil, Perumanna, Olavanna, Kakkodi, Kuruvattur and Kadalundi grama panchayats, was disbanded a few years ago.
“Greenfield planning has to be taken up right away. Only an agency that can coordinate the activities of local bodies can regulate the development of fringe areas,” said K.V. Abdul Malik, Regional Town Planner.
Incidentally, Kozhikode found place in the Atlas of Urban Expansion 2016 by registering an annual population growth of 7.6% from 2001 to 2014. The urban extent of Kozhikode has increased at a rate of 15.2%. The study was conducted by the UN Habitat for Better Urban Future, New York University, and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
It said that the population of the Kozhikode urban centre had grown from 4,40,243 in March 2001 to 1,171,852 in February 2014. The urban extent of Kozhikode has increased from 3,316 hectares in 2001 to 23,641 hectares in 2014. The total built-up area has also been increasing at 14.8% annually during the period.
Among the 17 Indian cities featured in the Atlas of Urban Expansion, Belagavi in Karnataka came second with a population growth rate of 4.3% followed by Coimbatore, Pune, and Singrauli, which have a population growth of 4.1%.