ShalabhLucknow: In a push for planned development, the state govt has started working on preparing master plans for tier II towns with a population between 50,000 and 1 lakh.A total of 93 towns have been identified in the state that are going to be covered under the scheme, and a geographical information system-based master plan would be prepared. As a first step towards long-term planned development, the master plan would provide the details of the land usage and important future projects to all the govt agencies and stakeholders interested in taking up projects in such towns.A budget of Rs 45 crore to Rs 50 crore would be earmarked to rope in private agencies, which would compile the master plan.Officials from the housing and urban planning department are contemplating preparing a master plan of all the urban local bodies (762 ones) in a gradual manner. “Within the regulated areas, building bylaws have to be followed and construction activity is regulated as per the bylaws to discourage haphazard and unplanned development. But we do not have any mechanism to take penal action or demolition within the urban local bodies that are out of the jurisdiction of regulating authorities such as Lucknow Development Authority, Kanpur Development Authority, Prayagraj Development Authority, etc,” said a senior officer from the housing department.Under phase 1 of the Amrut scheme, the GIS master plan has already been readied to promote planned development within 59 cities which have a population of more than 1 lakh. And the tier II towns are going to be covered under the second phase of the central scheme. In the survey carried out by the towns and country planning department, it was found that out of the 93 towns being covered by urban local bodies, only 44 ones were covered by a regulatory authority, whereas the remaining 49 ones were aloof from any regulatory body that monitors construction work.A total of 49 districts are going to benefit through the exercise, including Bareli, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Kannauj, Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Etawah, Auraiya, Jalaun, Jhansi, Balrampur, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Barabanki, Amethi, among others. In Lucknow division, tier II towns in Lakhimpur Khiri, Hardoi and Sitapur are going to be covered that include Paliya Kalan, Gola Gorakhnath, Mohammadi, Sandila, Bangarmau, Laharpur, Biswan, among others.
