The Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand on Tuesday convened a meeting of senior officers to review the pace of progress of various schemes launched by the Municipal Corporation here today. He said mega development projects have been launched in the capital cities to upgrade urban infrastructure, adding that prestigious projects …
ALL construction activities along the banks of the river Ganga in Allahabad were brought to a halt last month. The Allahabad Development Authority (ADA) issued a moratorium in compliance with a state high court order to stop ongoing projects within 500 metres of the river’s highest flood level. The court …
THE Maharashtra government seems to be dragging its feet over imposing sanctions on the developers of the country’s first planned hill city. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) had sent a letter to the state environment ministry on June 10 directing it to take action against Lavasa for …
NEW DELHI: As it struggles to get a grip on its finances in the post-Commonwealth Games scenario, the Delhi government on Monday got a Central grant of Rs 1257.86 crore in the Budget. Up from last year's Rs 1080.51 crore, this year's grant sets aside Rs 500 crore for infrastructure …
It is rather naive to delink urbanisation from the rising lifestyle aspirations and the imperatives of economic development. Opportunities, power and prestige are some of the irresistible attributes of the growing urban centres which attract migrants on a large scale. In India economic liberalisation and urbanisation have become complimentary to …
Frank Lloyd Wright, the American architect, once said that to look at the cross-section of any plan of a big city is to look at something like the section of fibrous tumour. It is probably an apt description of how India
This paper examines the policy options for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums. Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the market at the city level and a recognition that government interventions, rather than …
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission adopted a reform-linked funding approach, the culmination of two decades of active debate and experimentation in the urban development sector. Yet, progress of both fund utilisation and reforms under the programme has been tardy. As a second phase of the mission is planned, …
Considering the role and importance of rational and orderly growth of urban centers, the Government of Punjab intends to streamline the development process in urban settlements to ensure that these settlements continue to achieve their objectives of improved efficiency and productivity. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a stringent check …
The latest Cooum river restoration project in Chennai aims to focus on slum eviction as an achievable first step. A 19-kilometre elevated expressway on the river is also planned. Together estimated to displace over 18,000 families from the banks of the Cooum, these two projects testify to how waterfront development, …
This document details the Environment Policy 2010 for Rajasthan approved recently by the state government. Also includes the environment mission and climate change agenda for this state for 2010-2014 to prepare for adaptation & mitigation. This policy document is based on an analysis of the state-specific issues, the natural resource …
Some of the Arabian Gulf states are busy developing several large, reclaimed islands and offshore townships. These structures are undoubtedly futuristic and the ideas are quite novel. However, there are serious issues of long-term sustainability of these townships. This article reviews and discusses natural hazards that have struck this region …
Asom Government today told the State Assembly that the Guwahati Master Plan would be finalized within 45 days. On the opposition by a section of people to the draft master plan, the Government said only some influential groups like Sahara and real estate businessmen have been opposing the draft plan …
The state of Bangalore's civic body, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), provides an object lesson on how not to run a city when the country is going through an unprecedented wave of urbanisation. This is tragic because the country's IT capital has so much going for itself. It has no …
In the last three years, the city engineer's office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) sanctioned a mind-boggling 15.69 crore sq ft for development in the city. Against this the city builders could procure completion certificate for only 3.76 crore sq ft of built space. This would suggest that builders …
Keeping up its reputation of beating deadlines, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has completed construction work on its brand new railway bridge across the Yamuna in a record time of 26 months. The work on the 698.8-metre bridge started in October 2005 as the first project under the ongoing second …
A long time ago, visionaries such as M Vishveshwaraya, K Sheshadri Iyer, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, and Mirza Ismail emphasised the importance of trees, parks and green recreational spaces beyond their visual contribution in a cityscape. But in our hurry to modernise through rapid economic growth, urban aesthetics and environmental upkeep …
Housing for the poor and urban development is one of key areas of focus in Budget 2008-09 with urban development accounting for about 13% of the total Budget outlay. The finance minister proposed a plan outlay of Rs 1487 crore for housing and UD for the coming financial year. Finance …
India has added two more swanky symbols to make it part of the first-world grade: in Hyderabad and the gleaming Bengaluru international airport. But look behind the glitzy fa
