In an insightful document last week,Gujarats Real Estate Regulatory Authority (GujRERA) office claimed that 18% of all new building projects in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot are forced to come up in areas where there are notownplanning schemes (TP).
In tier-2 and tier-3 Gujarat cities like Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Junagadh and Navasari nearly 60% of newer developments are in non-TP areas. Thenon-TP areaslack planned Network or roads, and amenities.
The non-statutory document has suggested reforms in the existing town planning department and further flags that development demand in Gujarats cities has often outpaced the supply of planned and serviced land provided through TP scheme mechanism. GujRERA had teamed up with department of urban development and urban planning consultants to come up with three non-statutory manuals Town planning schemes, Development plans and Local Area Plans (LAP) and have uploaded them on their website. This is the first time that such an exercise has been carried out in the state.
Among key recommendations, to reduce delays ahead of an intention of TP scheme, are including public consultation process where land owners and beneficiary are consulted before freezing land records with shape, size and ownership boundary. The concept paper has also added a stage for preparation of vision while preparing draft TP scheme. Among other major recommendations are that the State Government appoint an expert review committee (ERC) which shall review and recommend approval of TP schemes submitted to the government at different stages.