Introduction: The major challenges in the process of rapid urbanization in India have been primarily caused by the high rate of migration of rural population to urban areas of the country, as briefly reflected by Table 1 given below.
In a period of about 14 years (from 2010 to 2024), the urban population of India increased by 6.1 % (Col. 3 of Table 2.1) of total population (Col. 2 of the table). Based on this rate of growth of urban population, it may be stated that the urban population of our country is likely to cross the level of half the total population by around 2050. This contention is corroborated by the projection of urban population1 of India up to 2050, as reflected by Figure 1 given below.
The above-noted rate of growth of urban population in India has been primarily responsible for causing different challenges confronting today the process of urbanization in India. The challenges, already identified by NITI Aayog2include pressure on basic infrastructure, air pollution, urban flooding, traffic congestion, water scarcity etc. The basic factor responsible for the development of these challenges, as duly identified by the Advisory Committee of NITI Aayog2 is the lack of urban planning for most of the statutory towns/cities of the country. As observed by this advisory committee, most of the cities/towns take up the developmental activities in urban areas without the Master Plans. It is in this context that a discussion on the aspects of the preparation of proper masterplans in the face of growing urbanization in India has been taken up in this article.
Different Schemes of Govt of India covering the aspect of Master Plans with specific reference to the states of NER:The two major schemes covering the aspect of preparation of master plans for the statutory towns/cities of India are—-(a) AMRUT, which already closed in March, 2023 and (b)AMRUT 2.0, which is now in operation and will continue till October,2026.
Under the sub-scheme of AMRUT Mission, as stated by PIB3—– “A sub-Scheme under AMRUT on Formulation of GIS based Master Plans for 500 AMRUT cities is at implementation stage. The Sub-Scheme aims at geo database creation and formulation of GIS based Master Plans. At present 461 AMRUT CITIES in 35 States are on-boarded under the scheme. Draft GIS based Master Plan has been formulated for 355 towns, out of which Master Plans for 208 towns have been finalized”.
The AMRUT Mission (not AMRUT 2,0) included only 12 cities of NER, which are—–Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh),Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Nagaon and Silchar (Assam), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Aizawl (Mizoram), Dimapur and Kohima (Nagaland), Gangtok (Sikkim) andAgartala (Tripura). As stated by the Guidelines4, the States/UTs failing to complete the AMRUT projects (including apparently the sub-scheme of preparation of Master Plans of AMRUT cities, mentioned above) by the end of March, 2023 will have to complete the remaining ones from their own resources.
In view of above-noted situation of the Sub-Scheme of AMRUT cities, the answers to a number of questions need to be searched for by the citizens of the cities concerned, since the ULBs of towns/cities are bodies elected by their (ULB’s) citizens and the benefits to accrue from all the urban developmental activities are intended for the citizens at large.The basic question relating to the preparation of GIS based Master Plans for the AMRUT cites including the ones of NER (as stated above) is——- What is the present status of the Master Plan for a particular AMRUT city in respect ofCreation of geo database, engagement of a Competent Consultant, preparation of Draft Master Plan, Consultation with the citizens concerned and Finalization of the Master Plan? For example, the four AMRUT cities of Assam (Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Nagaon and Silchar) may be taken. The citizens of these cities need to know the present positionwith respect to the present status with reference to (a) the creation of geo database, (b) the engagement of the Competent Consultant, (c) the broad Consultation with the citizens and finally (d) the preparation of the Master Plans. The importance of the present status is a vital one, since the AMRUT Mission ended in March 2023. As reflected by the excerpt of the PIB Report3 (quoted above), the Master Plans only for 208 towns/cities have been finalized so far out of a total of 500 AMRUT cities of India. The status of 12 AMRUT cities (as stated above) of NER are not specifically known at the author’s end. Obviously, it ought to be the responsibilities of concerned citizens to know the correct status from their respective elected-ULBs.
In addition to the 500 AMRUT cities (as discussed above), the mission AMRUT 2.0, launched in October, 2021 has also a Sub-Scheme on the formulation of GIS based Master Plans for 675 Class II town with population (based on 2011 Census) of 50,000 –99,999 with a tentative outlay of Rs. 631.13 crore. As reported by PIB5, the funds of Rs. 76.00 crore have already been released to 18 states covering 550 towns, as of July, 2024. The detailed distribution of funds released so far state-wise is, however not known to the author at this point of time. A total of 77 statutory towns of NER are included in this Sub-Scheme, the name of these cities being given in Appendix A for ready reference by the readers. Since, this mission ends in October, 2026, it is the time now, when the citizens of respective cities covered for Master Plans should constructively consult the ULBs in respect of the present status with reference to the questions discussed above under AMRUT mission.
Participation of Citizens of cities in matters of Formulation of Master Plans: The deliverables6 of the sub-scheme under AMRUT Mission for preparation of GIS based Master Plans primarily include Geo database creation, formulation of GIS based master plan and Capacity building. In addition, the documents to be submitted6 to the Govt. of India include (1) Copy of contract awarded/certificate of inhouse master plan formulation, (2) Certificate of geo database creation/base map, (3) Copy of draft master plan and (4) Copy of notified GIS based master plan. At this stage, it may be reiterated to the effect that 500 cities are covered in AMRUT Mission and the 675 Class II cities/towns (as stated above) are covered in AMRUT 2,0 Mission. The Sub-Scheme under AMRUT 2.0 for preparation of master plans will be in line4 with AMRUT GIS sub-scheme.
The citizens of the respective city/town have to be appropriately involved in the process of preparation of the master plans, as conceived under two sub-schemes under discussion. The States/UTs have to notify the activities in this respect through the State/UT Portals. While looking into this aspect, the Assam State Portal7 has been located. As stated in this portal, the different steps adopted for preparing the Master Plans in Assam are as shown in Appendix B of this article. A perusal of these steps includes many important aspects of a growing city/town). (A detailed discussion on some of the items of Appendix B will be taken up at a later stage).
The Assam State Portal8 states that—–(a) Final Master Plans are already there for 63 notified towns and (b) the draft Master Plans have also been prepared for 35 town of Assam. The reports including some maps for the Master Plans of these towns may be viewed in this Portal. However, it could not be ascertained from the Assam Portal8 as to whether the Master Plans for the cities/towns (4 nos. under AMRUT and 37 nos. under AMRUT 2.0—as discussed in this article) have been prepared or not in conformity with standards and design, as conceived in these two missions. It is truly in this context that the citizens concerned need to have constructive discussions with the respective ULBs.
Concluding Remarks: The detailed discussion among different stakeholders including the citizens is a basic necessity before a Master Plan of a city/town takes its final shape. The ULB concerned should take the initiative for this type of discussion. In case the ULB concerned fails to do that, the initiative has then to be taken by the citizens. There are different organized bodies of citizens including different citizens’ forums (such as senior citizen forum, different clubs, societies, social service groups etc.). These bodies may initiate the discussions with the ULBs, since it is the community of citizens for which a Master Plan is prepared. There are many Engineers and Architects in the organized bodies of the citizen. They are expected to play their effective role in the discussion of this type, since many of the aspects of a Master Plan (as covered in Appendix B) relate to many technical parameters.
Appendices:
APPENDIX A: STATUTORY TOWNS COVERED FOR GIS-BASED MASTER PLANS UNDER AMRUT 2.0 FOR THE STATES OF NER (Prepared by the author on the basis of data of the PIB Release5).
APPENDIX B: DIFFERENT STEPS CONSIDERED FOR PREPARATION OF MASTER PLANS OF CITIES/TOWNS OF ASSAM (Taken from Assam Portal7)
References:
1. ‘Population of India (2024 and historical)’—Elaboration of data by United Nations, DESA (Source—https://worldometers.inf/world population/India Population)
2. Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India, Final Report, September 2021, NITI Ayog
3. ‘Pathways to Amrit Kaal’, PIB Report, posted on 01 August by PIB Delhi.
4. Operational Guidelines, AMRUT 2.0, October, 2021, MoHUA
5. Projects Under AMRUT 2.0, PIB Delhi, 25th July, 2024
6. Reform Incentive Claims Toolkit (F.Y. ao18—19) by Town and Country Planning Organization, MoHUA, Govt. of India, November, 2018 (Source—AMRUT. Gov.in, https://164.100.87.10>reform_toolkit_18_19)
7. ‘Assam SOP for Preparation of Master Plans’, (Source—https://tcp.assam.gov.in>files>department>latest)
8. Master Plan, Assam State Portal (Source—https://tcp.assam.gov.in>schemes>masterplan)
