Year End Review urban development (india year book 2012-2013)

Ministry of Urban Development

A number of key decisions were taken by the Ministry of Urban Development during the year to trigger infrastructure growth and boost economy.  Efficient and reliable urban transport systems are crucial for India to sustain a high growth rate and alleviate poverty. To improve the current urban transport situation the Government is giving much attention to Metro projects. Mono rails and Regional Rapid Transit Systems are also being explored to supplement the existing transport systems. The year also witnessed the landmark decision of   regularizing unauthorized colonies in Delhi and Reviewing of Master Plan 2021.  The reform linked scheme of urban infrastructure development Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Rural Mission also completed its normal tenure during the year which, however, got 2 year extension for ongoing projects.

Mass Rapid Transit System

Metro projects are already under implementation across the country - Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kochi. The Foundation-stone of Kochi Metro was laid by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh at Kochi, Kerala on 13^th September, 2012.   The 25.3 km Kochi Metro Rail Project will be fully elevated and has a total completion cost of Rs. 5,181 crore.   Besides, following proposals were approved by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) as part of Delhi Metro Phase-III during the year:

(i)    Metro connection from Dwarka to Najafgarh:

(ii)  Extension of Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar metro line to Shiv Vihar:

(iii) Extension of Delhi Metro from Mundka to Bahadurgarh,

                         Mono Rails

Another mode of Mass Transport System that is being explored is Mono-rail.  Mono rail is ideal as a feeder system to larger metro networks as well as for stand-alone shorter networks in the densely populated pockets of cities. One Mono-rail corridor has already been identified in Delhi and work has been entrusted to DMRC. 

Regional Rapid Transit System

The work for preparation of Feasibility Studies of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors for the three prioritized corridors have been awarded to consultants. They are as follows:-

S. No.	RRTS Corridor	Length (km)
1	Delhi – Sonipat -Panipat	111.2
2	Delhi-Gurgaon -Rewari -Alwar	180.0
3	Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut	90.2
	Total	381.4

           

Based on the Feasibility Studies, the estimated project cost for the three corridors including escalation and Interest during construction (with Central and State Taxes) is Rs. 72,170 crore.

Regularization of unauthorized colonies

The Union Urban Development Ministry cleared the decks for the Delhi Government to regularize 917 unauthorized colonies during the year. Around 40 lakh residents in these colonies are likely to benefit from the regularization which would entail government spending on civic infrastructure.   The Delhi government had completed all the ground work for regularization of the colonies.

Review of Master Plan 2021

The Delhi Development Authority under the Ministry of Urban Development completed a significant milestone in its ongoing review of the Delhi Master Plan-2021 during the year. Four technical committees engaged in reviewing four broad areas of the Master Plan came up with presentations on the work done so far and top public servants, town planners, urban designers and architects offered their views on the broad ideas that the improved Master Plan seeks to incorporate.

The group deliberating on urban form, heritage and development controls said, inter alia, that the plan should be based on 3D mapping done in a time-bound manner involving professionals like architects.

The group on shelter focused on redevelopment of existing buildings and colonies especially in unauthorized colonies and jhuggi-jhonpri clusters. It said the recommendations on density as proposed in Master Plan Delhi 2021 for low-rise buildings with a high density should be ratified.   

The group recommended that sites selected for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) need to be declared well in advance even before the metro projects are fully operational to synergize works of various agencies.

The group on transport with focus on improved mobility said the TOD plans should be area-specific. It also called for comprehensive multimodal planning and that road safety audits need to be done.

The group on environment and physical infrastructure called for a comprehensive environmental plan for Delhi to be prepared including aspects like seismic zones, biodiversity and climate change.

JNNURM

A major step taken to address the Urban Infrastructure deficit in the country was the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) by the Government of India.

JNNURM was launched on 3rd December, 2005 with the objective of reforms driven and fast track development of cities across the country, with focus on bringing about efficiency in urban infrastructure, service delivery mechanisms, community participation and accountability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Parastatal agencies towards citizens. It has two components, namely, the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). 65 Cities based on population as per 2001 census are covered under the Urban Infrastructure & Governance (UIG) component of JNNURM.

JNNURM is a reform linked Scheme for provisioning of urban infrastructure and services in urban centers. In this, the second and subsequent installment of ACA is released for projects subject to utilization of 70% of grants and achievement of reforms according to the timelines agreed to by the States and Local Bodies. Due to reasons of non-completion of reforms as per committed time lines in the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by the State Governments, 10% of ACA  are withheld as per schemes stipulation while releasing the second or subsequent installment of ACA for the projects which the State can get reimbursed upon completion of reforms. 

The Mission has completed its normal tenure in March 2012. Extension of two years has been given for completion of ongoing projects & reforms only till March 2014.

National Urban Transport Project (NUTP)

The Ministry of Urban Development has initiated the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) with the support of Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to foster a long-term partnership between the Central Government and state/local governments in the implementation of a greener environment under the ambit of the National Urban Transport Project (NUTP).  As a part of this initiative, a number of projects have been undertaken by the Ministry in the country.  The 2^nd Annual Urban Mobility India Conference cum Exhibition 2012 on the theme “Smart Mobility” was organized during the year. Union Urban Development Minister Shri Kamal Nath addressed the valedictory function.

During the year the Intelligent Transport System Project being implemented at Mysore, the cultural capital of Karnataka, took a massive stride.  It aims to address the critical issue of road congestion by offering state-of-the-art technologies and attractive, convenient, comfortable, value added services to encourage the usage of bus services against individual personal vehicles. It also helps in saving time, effort and money that will eventually help create a better city to live in and be proud of.

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