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Consultant selected to prepare new master plan

Photo: T. Singaravelou

Better days ahead: Awaiting a new development process with the new master plan. —

PUDUCHERRY: The Pondicherry Planning Authority (PPA) has finalised the consultant to prepare the new master plan for the region, according to officials.

“A notification in this regard will be issued soon,” M. Kandar Selvan, Member Secretary of the PPA, said.

The consultant was selected from a panel of private firms that had applied for developing the master plan, he said. The consultant would be given six months to submit the draft report.

The new plan would cover an area of 71 sqkm unlike the earlier plan that was restricted to 40 sqkm, which was only meant for the development of the town limit, he said. The suburban areas that fall within the revenue divisions of Villianur, Ariankuppam, Odianpet, Pillaichavady, Kalapet and Alankuppam would be included in the new plan for carrying out development activities, the officials said.

The framework for the new master plan would be based on the Urban Development Plan Formulation and Implementation guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. The consultant would also identify residential areas, existing land use to assess the land to be marked for different purposes, floor area ratio, places for public utility, property tax structure and the availability of agriculture land within the specified area, the officials said.

The comprehensive draft report would also cover the population density, areas underserved by essential commodities, road network, sewerage and drinking water network, bus and rail routes. It would also cover the entire social and infrastructure of the region, they added.

Currently, the town planning in the region was based on the guidelines of the master plan of 1982, which was revised in 1997.

In a related development, the Town and Country Planning Department completed the process of amending “The Pondicherry Building Bye-laws and Zone Regulations, 1972” to incorporate the mandatory requirements to be followed in the construction of buildings. The amendment was also aimed at effecting necessary changes in the existing buildings for bringing structural safety, officials in the department said. “The Law Department had called for certain clarifications with regard to the amendments. We are looking into those issues,” the sources said. The Planning Department would soon hold a consultation meeting with experts to give final framework to the amendment, they said.

The amendments were mainly related to structural safety to prevent damage to buildings during earthquakes. The amended Pondicherry Building Bye-laws and Zone Regulations, 1972 would have separate requirements to be followed while constructing new buildings and measures to be taken to strengthen old structures, the officials said.

It would also include disabled-friendly measures to be adopted while constructing new structures and instructions for in-built fire-fighting mechanism, they said.

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