Marred by long delays and controversy, the Chandigarh Master Plan—Vision 2031 is all set to be notified by the Central Government soon.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has finally cleared the decks for the execution of Chandigarh Master Plan –Vision 2031. Sources said that the MoUD has approved the UT master plan and the same will be notified soon after final nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Earlier, after receiving the master plan, the MoUD had sent it to technical advisory and consultant body—Town and Country Planning Organization (TCPO) for vetting. After thoroughly vetted by TCPO, the master plan was sent back to MoUD for final nod. Now after Ministry’s approval, the plan is likely to be notified in month’s time by the Central Government, informed the sources.
After its notification by the Centre, the UT Administration would begin execution of various proposals recommended in the master plan for improving and upgrading the city’s infrastructure. The work for formulating the UT master plan started in the year 2008. Notably, the TCPO had last year sent an appreciation letter to the UT Administration for drafting a comprehensive master plan for the union territory of Chandigarh.
The Administration had notified the draft of UT master plan in October 2013 and had invited objections from the city residents against the proposed draft. In all, 171 representations were received by the Department of Urban Planning and 116 representations were left after eliminating the duplicates.
later, a Board of Inquiry and Hearing was constituted to examine the objections received on the draft master plan. The entire area of 114 sq. km comprising the Union Territory of Chandigarh has been covered in the master plan. It includes 70 sq. km of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the original plan prepared by city’s creator French architect le Corbusier and Phase 3 Sectors besides the area under the periphery.
The master plan has put forth recommendations on improving sectors like transport, parking, education, health services among others in the city.
In view of the limited land available for future growth and infrastructure needs, and to maintain its low rise, green and spacious character, the holding capacity of the landlocked city has been capped for a population of 16 lakh in the UT master plan.
Big projects including Paryatan Bhawan in Sector 17, State of the Art Convention Centre (Nehru Centre for Performing Arts) in Sector 34, Museum of Knowledge (MoK) in Capitol Complex Sector 1, Modern Terminal Market near Sector 39, Integrated Warehousing Complex in Industrial Area, Modernized Transport Nagar, Housing projects in southern sectors and wildlife corridor between the reserved forest area and the regulator end of the Sukhna lake has also been recommended in Chandigarh master plan. Designed for a population of only five lakhs, the City Beautiful is now bursting at the seams with more than 10 lakh population.