CM approves Master Plan for Amritsar

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal presiding over the 20th
meeting of Punjab Regional & Town Planning & Development Board.

 by Punjabnewswire4u (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, SEPT 27
The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal,  today approved the Master plan of Amritsar in the 20th meeting of Punjab Regional & Town Planning and Development Board here at Chief Minister's residence here.
 Mr. Badal was apprised by the Chief Town Planner that Ahemdabad based Company Sai Consulting Engineers was entrusted with the task of preparation of the Master Plan of Amritsar with the Local Planning Area (LPA) of 1394.19 sq km in view of the future requirements of population by 2031. The projected population for the Amritsar LPA was placed at nearly 30 lakh  in 2031 from 16.10 lakh in 2010, whereas for the Amritsar Metropolis it has been worked out as 20 lakh. The Master Plan had covered the adjoining towns of Jandila, Rayya, Raja Sansi and Majitha, whereas it had already covered the Verka, Amritsar Cantonment and  Cheartta in addition to 310 rural settlements.
          It may be recalled that Sai Consulting Engineers had been given the responsibility of the preparation of the Master Plans of six cities namely Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot, of which Master Plan of Amritsar has been cleared and others are under the advanced stage of finalization.  
To boost industrialization and economic growth of the Amritsar region in a big way, the Master Plan had also incorporated three major industrial pockets over an area of 8000 acre to be developed along with the roads of Tarn Taran, Majitha and Mehta, besides the other industrial units forming clusters in and around Amritsar. Considering the proximity and importance of Taran Tarn and Amritsar, the growth and development of both cities have been integrated in the Master plan of Amritsar and Taran Taran.
In view of the Heritage and religio-cultural importance of Amritsar City, the Master Plan had given a special status to the walled city as a 'heritage zone' to be developed on special guidelines rules and regulations with a focus to decongest the walled city to undertake pedestrianization (walk ways), conservation and preservation of heritage built environment, thereby creating more open space. Special emphasis had been laid develop spacious parking lots on the fringe of the 14 historic gates of the walled city, which would be given a new face lift as a part of the heritage conservation. Historic monuments of Rambagh and Gobindgarh Fort had also been included in the 'heritage zone' out side the walled city of Amritsar.
To rationalize the future growth and development in order to promote orderly and integrated planning, Development Control Regulation had been provided to regulate the height (FAR) and parking etc.  Under the new master plan, international airport at Raja Sansi would be upgraded with ultramodern facilities both for passenger and cargo flights. Besides, efforts were afoot to develop Amritsar as a hub of international trade with the proposal to establish a dry port on G.T. road at Attari border. To streamline the smooth vehicular traffic in the LPA, southern bye-pass along with a network of outer ring road with 80 meters width, middle and inner ring roads of 60 and 40 meters wide had also been proposed in the master plan. These roads would also regulate the inter and intra-city transport.  Battery operated vehicles and Personnel Rapid Transport (PRT) system was also being introduced in the walled city of Amritsar to considerably reduce the level of vehicular pollution.
The Board also gave green signal for the numbering of the sectors under the already approved Mullanpur master plan. In another decision, the board also approved the merger of the different industrial zones marked in the Ludhiana Master Plan into a single industrial zone subject to the compliance of norms prescribed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board.
Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Agriculture Minister Mr. Sucha Singh Langah, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mr. Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. D.S. Guru, Principal Secretary Industries Mr. S.S. Channy, Financial Development Rural Development and Panchayats Mr. Jagpal Singh Sandhu, Secretary Science,Technology and Environment Mr. Viswajeet Khanna,  Secretary Local Government Mr. S.S. Rajput, Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mr. S.S. Sandhu, Director Local Government Mr. S.K. Sharma, Chief Administrator GAMADA Mr. Vivek Partap Singh,, Chief Administrator PUDA Mr. Sarvjit Singh, Chief Town Planner Mr. Kuldip Singh, Adviser Technical GAMADA/PUDA Mr. Rajinder Gupta and Member Secretary PPCB Mr. Babu Ram.