Top

Consulting agencies to ready master plan for 17 Tamil Nadu cities

Amrut scheme promises better living conditions.

Chennai: After sleeping for more than a year, the state housing department is now on a stride to implement the ambitious Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut), a Central government scheme that promises better living conditions for tier-I cities and tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu. Under the scheme, master plan using Geographic Information System (GIS) is to be prepared for 17 of 32 towns selected by the Centre.

According to the tender document released by the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), Nagapattinam (with Velankanni), Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Dindugal, Karaikudi, Rajapalayam, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ambur, Salem, Tanjore, Pudukottai, Kumbakonam, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Rameswaram and Thoothukudi are the cities taken for preparing GIS-based master plan.

“Five consultants will draft master plan for the 17 cities. The Central government will be providing Rs 75 lakh for each city. Two years have been fixed as the time schedule for submitting the master plans. Steps will be taken for other 15 cities soon,” said an official with TN housing department. There is a good response to the tenders. A tender review committee will be formed by next week and the committee will select the appropriate consultancies, the official added.

It is also learnt that the DTCP would form a steering committee to oversee the master plan preparations. “Selected consultant will have to give suggestions in preparing master plan 2035. The master plans will be made using high-resolution remote sensing satellite data and it will take heritage and cultural structures into account. According to central government guidelines, AMRUT mission should be completed in 4 years,” a DTCP official said.

In Tamil Nadu, an investment of Rs 4,154 crore for 2017-20 has been approved, taking the total mission investments to Rs 11,237 crore with central assistance of Rs 4,756 crore for the five-year period. Under the first phase, 17 cities are tabled into 5 packages and only one package will be awarded to a consultancy.

What is Amrut Mission
Amrut mission aims to provide drinking water, sewerage and drainage networks and non-motorised transport, among others, in selected 500 cities across the country. Among the 500 towns and cities, 32 towns and cities including Chennai in Tamil Nadu were shortlisted. DTCP is the nodal wing for implementing the mission.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story