A total of 1,248 complaints and suggestions have been received from the public regarding the Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation’s draft master plan 2040, with more than half of these coming from various builders.
The Corporation will conduct a hearing for the complainants next week, after which the master plan with the necessary changes incorporated will be finalised.
According to Corporation officials, a large number of the complaints are of a generic kind, with broad criticism of the master plan rather than having any specific grievance. One of the specific complaints raised by the builders was regarding the proposal to regulate the size of buildings depending on the width and type of roads on which the proposed constructions are located.
Several complaints have been raised against another proposal to set aside the two lowest floors of bigger constructions in the Kazhakuttam area for commercial purposes. The proposal, as part of a plan to turn Kazhakuttam into a commercial hub, will likely be dropped as the general opinion is that it is impractical.
Many of the individual complaints have come from those whose land has been frozen under the master plan for proposed takeover for public purposes. A total of 286 acres of land, located closer to the road in different parts of the city, have been marked as frozen for public purposes in the master plan. Corporation sources said that those who had raised genuine complaints would be called for a hearing to seek more clarity on their issues.
Changes, if necessary, will be made to the current master plan, and will again be placed in the Corporation council for approval, after which it will be sent to the State government. Once the government approves it, the Master Plan will come into force.
The master plan that proposes a land use pattern with 77% of the city’s area for built-up use, has earmarked special development zones considering the scarcity of land availability for various projects. The spatial zones, according to the plan document, are derived taking into consideration the future transportation development scenario.
Considering the controversies over the previous draft master plan which had to be withdrawn in February 2014 following widespread public protests in the outer areas of the city, the latest one has taken a more liberal approach as far as demarcating areas in which construction activities are restricted.
