TN plans measures to cover 95 pc of area left out of 2nd Masterplan

Chennai:
Tamil Nadu is planning to bring more areas into master plan which
currently caters to only five per cent of the state’s area, according
to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Phanindra Reddy.

Delivering the special address to mark the Golden Jubilee Year of
Institute of Town Planners, India, Tamil Nadu Regional Chapter,
Chennai, Reddy said  the state is planning to go beyond the major
cities and is working in a phased manner to cover the entire area.

Interestingly, the area covered under Directorate of Town and Country
Planning (DTCP) is 1.28 lakh square metres where as the area covered
under master plan is only 6950 square metres of the state, a Institute
of Town Planners of India Tamil Nadu regional chapter report said.

“As the no plan area is 1.21 lakh square metres, which is 95 per cent
of the DTCP area, urban development is taking place in an haphazard
manner,” the report had added.

Reddy said that the state is also planning to take the help of
education institutes to help cover the entire area under the second
master plan.

Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah, who released a souvenir of ITPI, said
that expansion and development should not lead to deforestation and
cutting short of our cultivable lands. “The planners should work on
the modalities to come out with innovative and concrete plans for the
upliftment of the poor and middle income group keeping pace with
development,” he added.

He also stressed on the need for advancing the study of Town and
Country Planning to enhance research and improve strategy to bring
about uniform development.

D S Meshram, president of Institute of Town Planners of India
highlighted the need to manage urban growth with the rise in
population. “He said India will be overtaking the population of China
but has only one fourth of land mass as compared to China and it puts
an onerous task on planners to plan development,” he added.

Chairman of Institute of Town Planners India, Tamil Nadu Regional
Chapter K R Tooyavan and secretary of ITPI R Shivakumar were present
on the occasion.