Gurgaon plans too land centric, need transport solutions: Experts

Most masterplans for cities across the country are “real-estate centric” and devoid of a holistic approach that would include planning for mobility, transport needs

Most masterplans for cities across the country are “real-estate centric” and devoid of a holistic approach that would include planning for mobility, transport needs and environment related issues, experts at a seminar on urban transport challenges, organised in the city on Saturday, said.

MCG commissioner V Umashankar address the seminar in Gurgaon on Saturday. (HT PHOTO)

Speakers said making masterplans are about land usage and urbanising land parcels rather than planning for urban requirements such as mobility plan, infrastructure plan, transport plan, environment assessment and related issues.

The seminar, ‘Urban transportation-Challenges and solutions’, was organised by the Haryana chapter of the Institute of Town Planner, India. The institute is based in Panchkula.

Referring to the Gurgan masterplan 2031, Lalit Kumar, assistant professor, DCRUST, Murthal said that the existing plan had been made with focus on land use and maximum urbanisation, whereas it had little participation of people. “There is no single agency to ensure planning, design, execution and maintenance go hand in hand,” Kumar said.

While speaking on the topic ‘Urban transport system in Gurgaon’, Kumar said that the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway was planned on an obsolete traffic survey that proposed 12,000 to 13,000 passenger car equivalent PCUs. At present, the road has over 100,000 PCUs. “There is need for better planning and forecasting so that right solutions could be proposed and implemented,” he said.

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V Umashankar, commissioner, Gurgaon MCG, and additional CEO, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), in his address, informed the gathering that as a first-of- its-kind approach, the GMDA would focus on four verticals of planning, which would be all firmly rooted in the master plan of the city, viz, land-use plan, infrastructure plan, mobility plan and environmental plan. He also called on the planners to have a localised-need- based- approach to non-motorised transport (NMT) without copying the concepts as prevalent in the western world.

Nadim Akhtar, chairman, ITPI-HRC said that the urban transport challenges require dynamic solutions that need to be well thought out in advance, taking into account the demand, supply and other aspects in a developing city.

The research team of ITPI-HRC, headed by Sh. Raj Vir Singh (Ex-CTP), presented the research study on “Planning for Pedestrian and Cycle Movement”, emphasising on an urgent need to plan for the movement of pedestrians and cyclists by understanding the major problems pertaining to them and offering solutions. The objective is to meet the requirement of a comprehensive approach to plan for Pedestrian and Cycle Movement.