UP housing department directs Ghaziabad authority to prepare zonal development plans

During a meeting held at Lucknow on Thursday, the state department asked all the development authorities in UP to prepare the zonal plans in their areas. Their preparation is a statutory provision under the UP Urban Planning & Development Act, 1973 and the authority is required to prepare it simultaneously or as soon as the Master Plan is prepared.

The state housing & urban planning department has asked the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) to prepare the zonal development plans for different areas at the earliest. The zonal plans are area-specific subordinate plans to the Master Plan for planned development activities at micro level. Ghaziabad, at present, has only one such plan which was cleared in December 2014 for the housing hub at Raj Nagar Extension.

The authority has eight zones under its jurisdiction, but the officials said that zonal plans will not be feasible for the areas where development has already taken place. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

During a meeting held at Lucknow on Thursday, the state department asked all the development authorities in UP to prepare the zonal plans in their areas. Their preparation is a statutory provision under the UP Urban Planning & Development Act, 1973 and the authority is required to prepare it simultaneously or as soon as the Master Plan is prepared.

“We have several zonal plans which are in different stages of development. Four plans are for Loni and two each for Modi Nagar and Murad Nagar. These are the areas where development is intended in future. For areas where the authority has acquired land or development is already done, there would be no need for zonal plans now,” Ishtiyaq Ahmad, the authority’s chief architect & town planner, said.

The zonal plans detail the micro-level development requirement of the areas such as provision for schools, residential sectors, police stations, commercial complex, parks, roads and other facilities.

Under the preparation of the zonal plan, the plans get cleared by the authority’s board and suggestions are invited from the public later. A member of the NCR Planning Board cell in Ghaziabad is a part of the GDA board. The plans, once cleared, are sent to the state housing & urban planning department for final approval.

Further, the officials said that a new Master Plan for 2041 is under preparation for nearly 61 towns in the state with the help of Union ministry of urban development.

“The preparation of the plan is in advanced stages and is being done through GIS technology by the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad. The town & country planning department of UP is the nodal agency for Master Plans,” Amhad said.