Par panel raps state govts for delay in master plans

A parliamentary panel today rapped the "lackadaisical and laid-back attitude" of state governments in implementation of urban development master plans, noting that only one-third of the total town and cities in the country have statutory plans.
The Standing Committee on Urban Development, in its report tabled in Parliament, also observed that implementation of master plans are "unduly delay" in certain cases by as long as 20 years.
The preparation of master plans is done under Town and Country Planning Acts which are administered by state governments.
"The Committee is, however, dismayed to note that out of total number of 7,933 cities and towns across India, only 2,631 towns have statutory master plan. Remaining 5,302 towns have yet to prepare a statutory master plan," the panel said.

The committee, headed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pinaki Misra, also found that the master plan 2021 of Delhi is yet to be implemented.
The panel said the very purpose and parameters of cities' master plans become redundant due to "lackadaisical and laid-back" attitude of governments.
It "strongly" recommended to the Union Government to allocate sufficient funds and technical expertise to state governments for capacity building of town country planners and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) at state level.
The reasons for non-formulation of statutory master plan of remaining 5,302 towns as cited by the government are lack of available qualified town planners in the State Town and Country Planning Departments, cumbersome procedure for preparing the plans and lack of availability of both spatial and attribute data, and limited exposure to the latest IT tools and techniques, the committee said.