Veteran trade union leader and former member of Paradip Port Trust (PPT) Sudhakar Mantry has suggested implementation of a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for the overall growth of the port town and its adjacent areas.
Speaking to mediapersons on Wednesday, Mantry said a CDP and comprehensive planning are generally known as strategic visioning most often compiled by urban planners and accompanied by public consultation for development of an urban area. Paradip has been recognised for its industrial growth and location of a Major Port since years, but it is unfortunate that no CDP proposal has been made for it yet by both Uniont and Odisha Governments, he lamented.
Comprehensive planning dictates policy of urban areas in terms of transportation, land use, hospital, recreation, housing, education, environment and public utilities encompass a broad range of topics, Mantry said.
The CDP is addresses land use, land scrapping, transport access, drainage and other infrastructure requirements for development of a particular urban area and it ensures future development strategy, but no such planning through CDP is incorporated yet for Paradip, he said.
Unauthorised colonies are mushrooming in Paradip due to lack of a comprehensive master plan. The port town is also witnessing traffic congestions due to movement of iron ore, chromite-laden trucks and oil tankers. Real estate developers are facing difficulty in getting their plans approved. Shortage of drinking water is a perennial woe of slum dwellers, Mantry pointed out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his maiden visit to Paradip for IOCl refinery inauguration in February 2016 had declared Paradip as ‘Vikash Deep’ development door of Odisha, but Paradip lacks a CDP to guide its development, Mantry observed.
Former Paradip Municipality Chairman Gobinda Tarai, trade union leader Santosh Pattnaik also suggested that the Union Urban Development Ministry in collaboration with a town planning organisation should prepare a CDP for Paradip.