After the botched attempt to draw up a master plan for Kochi some two decades ago, the Kochi Corporation is once again attempting to prepare a document, which would define the contours of the development of the city for the next few decades.
The earlier attempt was made during the term of C.M. Dinesh Mani as Mayor. The draft plan document was made for the Greater Cochin area, which included the neighbouring municipalities and panchayats. The earlier document considered the urban agglomerate of Kochi as one unit and prepared the document, which didn’t go down well with the other local bodies.
The plan document could not be finalised at the time as the civic representatives of the neighbouring local bodies questioned the vision document prepared by the Kochi Corporation, which covered their areas too. This time, the corporation has decided to restrict itself to its boundaries and frame the vision document accordingly, said Mayor M. Anilkumar.
A meeting of a stakeholder committee, headed by the Mayor, will be held on February 7 to discuss the proposal. The officials from the Town Planning Department had made a preliminary presentation before the members of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the corporation a few days ago.
The draft plan will be discussed in various working groups, which will have the representatives from the line departments of the State government. The inputs provided by the departments will be vetted and the suitable ones added to the plan document.
The document thus prepared will be discussed with the various stakeholders of the city and inputs collected. The final document will be placed before the Corporation Council for approval, Mr. Anilkumar said.
The vision document will have to take into account the various town planning schemes that were announced earlier. Some schemes have failed to take off and some others were dropped halfway. The vision document should take a view on these schemes and suggest the ones suited for the city, he said.
The civic body had been closely following up the preparation of the vision document.
The urban planners are expected to come up with the final document by April, he said.
