Master plan for Ludhiana on the anvil

Ludhiana will become the first city in Punjab to have a master plan 2021, with the state government working in this direction to check the city's haphazard growth.

"The exercise for preparing a master plan 2021 for planned growth of Ludhiana has begun in view of the directions received from the state government in this regard," a senior official in the town planning department said, adding the plan was expected to be prepared within one year.

According to the proposed master plan, the town planning department has decided to include about 286 villages surrounding the city and three towns including Sahnewal, Doraha and Mullanpur for their overall development.

Area falling within 20 kms of the city would also be incorporated in the master plan, the official said.

The department would also seek details from the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana about present status of sewerage system, drinking water facility, flyovers, bridges and other basic amenities on the basis of which the projections would be made.

Besides taming the chaotic traffic and taking care of slums at outskirts, the plan would also focus on shifting small industrial units in residential areas to new industrial zones.

"Shifting old industrial clusters from residential areas would be a big challenge for plan developers as industry has always resisted any move of the state government for shifting its bases," he said.