KCR asks for comprehensive plan for Hyderabad development

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has announced that for converting Hyderabad into a truthfully global city a comprehensive Master plan would be formulated and will be implemented.

The Chief Minister said that the master plan would be drafted by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) in consultation with a team of National and International experts keeping in view the future needs of the city. If any changes to the Master Plan, thus prepared, by ASCI taking into consideration all aspects of Hyderabad development, shall be done only with the consent of the Cabinet. Changes if any required shall be reported to the Chief Secretary who in turn bring to the notice of the Cabinet for approval. He said that instead of depending on a small body like HMDA for implementation of the Master Plan for comprehensive development of the city, there shall be a larger body consisting of experts drawn from various fields like sewerage, drinking water, power lines, traffic, environment etc. He said that instead of depending only on GHMC funds for development of city, funds will also be mobilized from various other sources.

KCR held a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on Saturday afternoon on Hyderabad City within and beyond ORR as well as within the RRR (Regional Ring Roads) for its comprehensive development and to prepare it in accordance with the future needs. Chief Advisor to Government Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary SK Joshi, former speaker Madhusudhana Chary, MLAs Niranjan Reddy, Redya Naik, Ajay, MLC Srinivas Reddy CM Secretaries Smita Sabarwal, Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Additional Secretary K. Manicka Raj, Special Secretary K. Bhoopal Reddy, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, Head of the Urban Governance V. Srinivas Chary, faculty Malini Reddy and others participated in the meeting.

“Hyderabad city is developing very fast. For employment opportunities and for livelihood there has been a large-scale migration to Hyderabad from various other places. The Climatic conditions, the harmonious life style and the excellent industrial policy resulted in establishment of several IT companies and industries and with this the employment opportunities have also increased considerably. Several people are getting livelihood in hotel and construction industry. This is adding five to six lakhs of population to Hyderabad annually.

The people who migrate to Hyderabad from other places within the state and outside the state are settling permanently here. The floating population is also increasing day by day. From Hyderabad International Airport every year on an average nearly 2 Crore persons are commuting. All these helps for the economic development of the city which is a very happy thing. However, if Hyderabad is not developed in tune with the increasing population and their needs then the life in the city becomes miserable” said the CM.

The Chief Minister said already there were various issues and problems in Hyderabad. "River Musi is totally spoiled and has become a drain. Pollution is on the increase in the city. There are enough of traffic problems. Green cover is coming down day by day. In future the population is likely to increase multi fold and it is possible that the situation may slip out of our hands. Life may become miserable. It's time that we are awaken and assessing the future needs of the city develop Hyderabad. For this it is necessary to prepare a master plan and implement the same” said the CM.

“What is the status of Hyderabad today? What is its population today? How are the roads? What are the traffic conditions? How is the sewerage? What about green cover? How many vehicles are there in Hyderabad? What about power supply position? On all such issues we should make a decision and assess scientifically what would be Hyderabad after 10 years down the line. Accordingly, the Master Plan has to be prepared,” said the CM.

“It is not only the Delhi and Banglore cities but also the Chinese capital Beijing is not convenient to live. Delhi is totally suffering from pollution. In Bangalore there are a lot of traffic problems. As of now, though, Hyderabad appears to be alright but the fact is unless we awaken now and prepare for the future situation would be out of control. The existence of life will be a question mark. Hence, it is absolutely necessary that a Master Plan has to be prepared to enable people live comfortably and peacefully,” said CM.

The Chief Minister stressed on the need to increase greenery within Hyderabad and HMDA as well as beyond them. "Green zone being shown as agriculture zone and treating them as open places conversions are being done and at their will and pleasure permissions are given for constructions. With this, in the main city the greenery has become a scarce commodity. It this is allowed to continue pollution levels will increase in the city. Hence there need to be a regulation on sanctioning permissions. For environment protection top priority is to be given. All pollutant industries must be shifted out from city. Industrial estates which are not in use due to closure are to be converted into green areas and parks. Every vacant place is to be converted into a green area. The 150,000 acres of forest blocks in and around Hyderabad should be rejuvenated as a forest,” suggested the CM.

“The Hyderabad city should be divided into three parts and accordingly proper planning has to be done. The city within ORR, the city beyond ORR and within the proposed regional ring roads and they would be developed city beyond RRR are the three parts. In all these three parts assessments has to be made with regards to drinking water, drainage, sewerage, traffic, transport, power lines etc. A decision has to be made as to what is to be done in future in all these three areas. We need to identify areas with specific reference education city, sports city, cinema city, health city etc each one treating as special entities. Permissions are to be given accordingly. The area is to be utilized for the purpose for which it is meant. Under any circumstances Master plan cannot be violated. An Act will be passed that any change to Master plan shall be done with the consent of the Cabinet,” said the CM.

“We cannot stop the migration to the cities and towns. Migration will be more to cities like Hyderabad where there are several facilities. The only alternate before us is to prepare the city for future needs and for the growing population. An excellent Master Plan has to be drafted. We will entrust that work to Administrative Staff College of India. They will appoint national and international experts from different agencies as consultants. We have to give the necessary basic information to them. Within three months the best of the Master Plan has to be drafted. Implementation of this Master plan is not possible for HMDA alone and hence expert bodies will be formed. For taking up this massive programme the required funds will be allocated and released by the government,” said the CM.

The CM announced that foundation will be laid this month to the proposed reservoir to be constructed at Keshavapur for supply of drinking water to the Hyderabad City. The same will be completed expeditiously. He said that Metro rail will be extended up to Airport.