CDP for city to be finalised by Jan

The decks have now been cleared for the finalization of the draft Comprehensive City Development Plan (CDP) for Bhubaneswar with the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) submitting its recommendations to IIT-Kharagpur.

IIT-Kharagapur which had prepared the draft CDP for the city is expected to come out with the final report within a month. The implementation of the CDP would involve an investment of Rs 31,450 crore on different sectors by 2030. It may be noted that the last CDP for Bhubaneswar was prepared in 1994. “BDA has resolved the 5000-odd complaints and objections received in response to the draft CDP. We have submitted our recommendations to IIT-Kharagpur which includes the changes that need to be incorporated in the final report”, D K Singh, vice chairman, BDA told Business Standard.

The finalization of the draft CDP for the city which was scheduled by the end of January 2009 had hit a delay as BDA had received more than 5,000 complaints pertaining to the draft CDP.

The objections to the draft CDP were raised by the different stakeholders, especially the real estate bodies like the Orissa chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) and the Real Estate Developers Association (REDA-Orissa).

BDA had set up a board of enquiry for entertaining complaints relating to the draft CDP.

Among the major changes sought in the draft CDP were setting aside a greater area for the Special Residential Zone (SRZ) for the benefit of the economically weaker sections and avoiding conflict in land use to ensure successful implementation of the CDP.

Credai-Orissa felt that the area earmarked for the SRZ in the draft CDP of the city needs to be raised from 400 acres to 2,000 acres.

This apart, the real estate body had pointed out that in many areas, the land use marked in the draft CDP are in conflict with BDA approved plan where construction has been completed.

The association suggested that an area which has been approved for a particular zone should maintain the same status in the new CDP to keep the citizens hassle free and also to avoid any legal dispute.

According to the draft CDP of Bhubaneswar prepared by IIT-Kharagpur, the city’s population was projected at 30 lakh by 2030. To accommodate 30 lakh people in and around the city, an area of 9,286 acres has been earmarked for residential purposes in the CDP.