New move planned to tame rogue growth on city fringes

Gandhinagar: Villages on the fringes of Gujarat’s fast-growing cities are exploding with construction activity — apartments, shops, gated colonies — approved by panchayats that have neither the expertise nor the means to plan roads, drainage or water supply.

Years later, cities take these areas into their limits, and the chaos that comes with it.

When Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) absorbed Bopal and Ghuma in 2021, it inherited an infrastructural mess. That is precisely the kind of problem the state govt now wants to prevent — with new specialised authorities. “These proposed district planning authorities will serve a dual purpose — checking unauthorised constructions in areas outside the development plan zones of municipal corporations, municipalities, and urban development authorities (UDAs) and setting up planned infrastructure facilities,” a top govt source confirmed.

The authorities will be set up under the urban development department (UDD).District collectors and district development officers could be given additional responsibilities of monitoring and planning development in these areas, the sources added.“The govt faces several challenges when such outgrowth areas are intended to be included within city or UDA limits. Even citizens who buy properties in non-draft development plan areas face challenges because of lack of basic amenities like drinking water supply, a proper sewage network, good roads and the like,” said an official.

A senior UDD official said, “In Bopal-Ghuma, development took place without any organised town planning. The municipalities here were unable to provide basic infrastructure like water supply, drainage, sewerage and roads.” By the time AMC took over, residents across newly merged localities including Bopal, Ghuma, Chandlodia, Gota, Sarkhej and others were still without essential water supply infrastructure“These district-level authorities under the UDD will be responsible for keeping vigil on haphazard development in non-DP areas and will also plan for basic amenities on the town planning scheme model,” the official said. Consultations on the proposal have commenced.