Master Plan of Dehradun, Uttrakhand |
Defining Master Plan
Master plan is a long term planning, generally for 20 years. It is also a comprehensive planning for service area as per likely spread of city in next 20 years. It describes all works required in next 20 years in phased manner. The designs and estimates are prepared approximately. It finalizes some of the main parameters so that advance action can be taken (Sharma, 2013).
"A Master Plan is the long term perspective plan for guiding the sustainable planned development of the city. This document lays down the planning guidelines, policies, and development code and space requirements for various socio-economic activities supporting the city population during the plan period. It is also the basis for all infrastructure requirements." defined in Master Plan Preparation Committee (Government of India, 2007).
Compliance with laws
Master Plan for Dehradun, 2005-2025 is consistent with the provisions of Mussouri-Dehradun Development Act, 1984. Prepared by Dehradun Development Authority and approved by the Government of Uttrakhand under Department of Housing through Order no. 2573/V-(O) 2008-298 (O) 2005) and approved on 19th November 2008 (Government of Uttrakhand, 2008).
This is second Master Plan to continue the planned development of the capital city of Uttrakhand. The earlier plan was prepared in 1985 for the period of 1982-2001.
We find that the planning authority had failed to prepare the next plan in time and there is a time lag of around eight years. This disruption of the planning process sometimes leads to undesired urban sprawl. Although the master plan has some provisions for increasing the validity of the earlier plan, we can find that this leads to mismatch in the actual increased requirements of infrastructure and other services far beyond the projected increase in demand and thus, supply of the urban amenities takes a backseat.
Content of Master plan
- Introduction
- Review of Master Plan 2001
- Population
- Shelter
- Economic Base
- Community Facilities
- Traffic and Transportation
- Landuse
- Zoning Regulations
- Plan Implementation and Monitoring
From the content of the plan we can see that the master plan has not covered many of the components of the Master Plan as proposed and supposed to be in plan as provided in the Urban Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) guidelines (Government of India, 1996).
Content of Master plan
- Introduction
- Review of Master Plan 2001
- Population
- Shelter
- Economic Base
- Community Facilities
- Traffic and Transportation
- Landuse
- Zoning Regulations
- Plan Implementation and MonitoringFrom the content of the plan we can see that the master plan has not covered many of the components of the Master Plan as proposed and supposed to be in plan as provided in the Urban Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) guidelines (Governenment of India, 1996).
Analysing the Master Plan through Some Indicators
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
PLAN PREPARATION | ||||||
Vision | SWOT Analysis taking into account: Needs Demands Aspirations of the citizens |
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The citizen were invited to participate in the objection and suggestion stage after the preparation of the plan and there is no evidence what they did with the objection and suggestions received from the public | ||||||
Aims and Objectives |
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There seems to be no stakeholder participation in the process of defining aims and objectives. | ||||||
Approach/ Concept | Theoretical concept for planning | The plan is based on the preliminary concept of analysis of the existing situation and framing policies for development. There is no scientific and systematic approach in the plan preparation. | ||||
Stakeholders have some opportunities of interacting during the plan making process, but it seems that many of them did not find any due place. | ||||||
Planning Methodology | Approach to the Plan preparation/ Planning Framework Tools and Techniques Used |
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Perspective Period | Time span as put forth by the Plan | This plan is prepared for a perspective period of 20 years from 2005 to 2025. | ||||
Phasing | Number of Phases Time Span | There is no any phasing in the plan for easing out the implementation process and monitoring of the achievements. | ||||
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Planning Unit | Territories/ Jurisdictions |
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Preparation Time | Time taken for Plan preparation |
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Team | Constitution of the Team | Experts involved in the preparation of the Plan | The experts of the development authorities and town & Country Planning department of the state, Expert from housing and water supply and other line agencies were also involved at least on paper. | |||
Decision Support Systems | Information systems | Spatial Information |
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Non- spatial information | ||||||
Norms, Standards and Assumptions | Benchmarks for meeting future demands |
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THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Assessment of Future Requirements | Population and Work Force estimates | Population Size | · The member of the planning team used the data of the census of India 2001 and used simple decadal growth as the projection method for calculating the future growth. · The document has described population size, sex ration and work force participation. · The socio-economic profile of the population is also studied to some extent.
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Sex Ratio | ||||||
Age Sex Structure | ||||||
Workforce Participation Rate | ||||||
Pattern of Displacement | ||||||
Composition & location of Ethnic Communities | ||||||
Mix of social/ income categories | ||||||
Formal education for assessment of skilled work force & provision of facilities. | ||||||
Housing Need | Migrant/ Displaced Population | |||||
% of Slum population & Urban Poor | ||||||
Infrastructure Requirement | Water requirement | |||||
Waste water generation | ||||||
Solid waste generation | ||||||
Transportation | Assessment of Travel demand / Traffic Volume | |||||
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Assessment of Future Requirements | Land | Land Suitability based on development constraints/ natural resources /vulnerable/ sensitive areas Existing Land Utilization/ Land Use Densities | The norms and standards of the UDPFI guidelines and the previous master plans were used for assessing future requirement. There is no indication of study of land suitability for assigning different land uses and containing development. | |||
COMPONENTS OF THE PLAN | ||||||
Settlement pattern | The patter of the settlement distribution is highly organic. Most of the development of urban areas is in the form of linear growth along the transport network and villages are highly scattered. | |||||
Land Utilization/ Land Use | The landuse distribution is done to optimize the available resources. There is mix of different land uses in different areas to make mixed used development viable. | |||||
Shelter | Housing | Provision of Housing for all communities |
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Other Shelter options | Provision of other shelter options like night shelters. | |||||
Infrastructure Infrastructure Infrastructure | Water Supply | Sources of Water |
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Proportion of Households having access to safe water supply. | ||||||
Sanitation | Waste water Management System |
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Proportion of Households having access to sanitation facilities | ||||||
Drainage | Natural Drainage (Watershed areas) |
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Drainage network | ||||||
Rain water Harvesting Systems |
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Power Supply | Alternative/ Renewable sources for Power supply |
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Sector-wise consumption | ||||||
Networks & location of Transformers | ||||||
Access of low-income communities to Power supply. | ||||||
Solid waste management | Disposal sites |
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Integration of Informal sector | ||||||
Hierarchy, Number & Distribution | ||||||
Education | Hierarchy, Number & Distribution | The plan does not talk about the equitable distribution of the facilities but the facilities are distributed in the settlements to facilitate easy access. | ||||
Health | Typology, Number & Distribution | |||||
Socio-cultural facilities | Hierarchy, Number & Distribution | |||||
Recreational facilities | Typology, Number & Distribution | |||||
Urban Form | Place making & Imageability | City as a place for All. | The Plan provide for seems to promote private urbban developments are there is some provisions of registration of housing developers and promoters in the city. The developments will be according to the development norms and codes but the enlisted norms and guidelines are not explicit enough. | |||
Transit-oriented corridors/ Special areas |
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Built Heritage | Monuments | Socio-cultural values and Historicity |
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Precincts | ||||||
Natural Resources | Water Bodies & Water channels | Optimum utilization of natural resources/ Minimizing over-exploitation |
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Ground water Aquifer recharge zones | ||||||
Natural Drainage | ||||||
Wetlands/ Marshes/ Salt pans | ||||||
Hills/ Ridges | ||||||
Biodiversity including Forest/ Green areas | ||||||
Mineral Resources | ||||||
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Climate Change | Green House Gas emissions | Compact City Structure/ Carbon Neutral City concept considering like, Green Building Codes, Renewable energy sources, etc. |
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Heat Sinks/ Carbon Sinks/ Urban Greenery | ||||||
Energy Efficiency measures | ||||||
Provision of Sustainable Transport options | Public Transport / Non Motorized Transport | |||||
Urban Environmental Quality | Water Pollution | Pollution and degradation of Environment |
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Air Pollution | ||||||
Noise Pollution | ||||||
Land Degradation (Soil erosion & Desertification) | ||||||
Disaster Management | Safety of Vulnerable communities | Safety from Disasters |
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Adaptive Capacity | Adaptive Capacity of Population, Institutions, Information System & Resources | |||||
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Inclusivity | Marginalised groups: Slums Urban Poor Informal Sector |
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Population with special needs: Children Youth Women Single Parents Senior Citizens Disabled Population | ||||||
Equity | Distribution of Housing Supply | Capacity building & empowerment of the Ward community through participation in plan making, decision-making, implementation. | Plan does not provide for equitable distribution of shelter and infrastructure in the plan, which is evident from the more housing for high end users through developers without putting any cap on it or any form of obligation for mandatory housing provisions for urban poor. | |||
Provision and Access to Infrastructure & Services | ||||||
Capacity Building & Community Empowerment | Stakeholder Participation in Decision making & Implementation | Plan does not provide for capacity building of the community through provisions for participation and spatial mix of social/ income categories in the plan as there is no such forum and time when public can express their opinion on the issues of developments. Like annual planning schemes or midterm plan review and monitoring. | ||||
Social Well Being | Personal Development | Provision of facilities for Health, Recreation, Leisure, Education and Safety | Plan gives a provision of facilities for Security, Health, Recreation, and Leisure & Learning. | |||
Security (Crime & Terrorism) | ||||||
THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Economic Development | GDP | Provision for economic sustainability in the Plan by ways of employment and economic opportunities, which would contribute, to the State GDP & exports. | Plan considers economic sustainability concept for local development, which is evident from the fact that the authority keeps annual renewal of the developer’s license to develop new housing blocks. Most of the housing projects are on paper and not undertaken for the benefits of the urban poor. | |||
Employment rate in local enterprises/ SHGs/ CBOs/ NGOs | Local Economic Development | |||||
Financing Development | Investment Plan | Mobilisation of finance/ investments for Projects |
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GOVERNANCE | ||||||
Implementation and Enforcement | Phasing | There is no any phasing for Plan Implementation in the planning document. | ||||
Plan approvals | Depending on the scale and nature of the scheme, the authority might take few weeks to years for granting approval. The plan does not make any provision of mandatory delivery of services in specified period. | |||||
Responsibility/ Accountability | The development authority and wherever applicable the public works department is accountable for development works during Plan implementation and enforcement. | |||||
Stakeholder Participation | Ward community, Women, Youth, academia, NGOs, CBOs, SHGs, Pvt Sector, etc |
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THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Monitoring and Review | Plan Evaluation | Indicators for Monitoring to evaluate the Plan | There is no any indicators mentioned in the document that can be taken for monitoring to evaluate the impacts of Plan/ development. | |||
Monitoring Mechanism |
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Review Mechanism |
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Responsibility/ Accountability | No such detailed chart or plan. | |||||
Stakeholder Participation | Ward community, Women, Youth, academia, NGOs, CBOs, SHGs, Pvt Sector, etc |
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Public Grievance System |
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THEME | INDICATOR | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ||||
Legislative Support | Amendments to the Act | Proposed changes in the Legislative framework if required. |
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Institutional Framework | Institutional Set-up | Organizations responsible at various stages of Plan-making and implementation. |
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Structure of Participation Mechanism | ||||||
Brief Summary of Inferences:
- The Master Plan document is available only in Hindi Language, which limits its usability by experts coming from other areas where Hindi is not their mother tongue. Even Hindi speaking people may find difficulty in interpreting the meanings of some of the terms.
- The planning document fails in many indicators of a good master plan of a city.
- The plan seems to be not a well thought plan as it lacks the systematic and rational approaches of planning.
- There is need for making the plan more explicit through phasing of the plan.
- There is need for making the plan implementation and monitoring strong enough to facilitate smooth process of development.
- Stakeholder Participation is only at draft stage and unaccounted participation at plan preparation period. The housing demand of different income group has never been met and there is always deficit in supply to fulfill the demand of the housing
- The housing for urban poor is a neglected sector as there is not any concrete policy measure like time bound supply of affordable housing.
- The unregulated development of housing sector is consuming a large chunk of ecologically sensitive area.
- There is existence of non-hierarchical commercial centres like Malls which are not accommodated in the development controls and guidelines leading to unregulated growth and development in Dehradun.
- The issue of industries in Dehradun has been a subject of extensive debate, controversy and concern over the past decade but master plan fails to address it.
- The redevelopment policies of the plan is vague and does not ensure time bound area specific proposals strategies.
- Overemphasis on increasing mobility and not regulating the growth of vehicles is putting an undue constrains on existing transport infrastructure and this is leading to more development of built forms.
- Provision of creating new social infrastructure to meet the needs of the urban poor is missing.
- There is no provision for wastewater is treatment and wastewater goes untreated in the water bodies.
- The master plan has no provision for controlling the unregulated growth of the mixed use is making many areas of the city congested and eroding the ambience of healthy social living conditions.
- There are no any mechanisms of periodic plan evaluation during the course of the plan period. There is no monitoring or implementation board or committee to see whether the plan is being implemented or not.
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