BENGALURU: The government is likely to revisit the draft of the Revised Master Plan (RMP) for the city in light of the strong objections received from the public as well as the order by the National Green Tribunal relating to buffer zones. BDA chairman and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara met top officials of Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority and BDA and held extensive discussions on the draft of the RMP 2031.
The Master Plan was supposed to be out by March 2017 but has got delayed enormously due to various reasons. The RMP 2015 is still being followed in the city right now. Speaking to The New Indian Express on Saturday on the status of RMP, Parameshwara said 14,000 suggestions have been received for the Master Plan draft. “Some of the objections are strong and very serious in nature.
So, we need to examine them very carefully. In addition to that, the National Green Tribunal has stressed on the maintenance of buffer zones. We need to incorporate that too in the plan,” he said. The previous Master Plan (RMP 2015) did not face such a directive from the NGT but we have received that for this plan, the minister added.
The NGT had mandated that a 75m buffer zone needs to be maintained around water bodies and drains. Many of the new roads proposed by BDA cuts through the buffer zones of the lakes.Asked to specify a timeline for the release of RMP 2031, he remained non-committal.”I really cannot say at this stage. We do not want to rush through something that will plan for our city up to 2031. The city has traffic problems, the issue of sewage entering into lakes among others, which need to be redressed through the plan,” he said.
On whether a decision has been taken to revisit the Master Plan as had been spelt out to Express by government sources, Parameshwara said, “We have not taken a final decision.”The BDA chairman said what was being examined right now was only a draft of the plan. “The draft has not yet been approved by the government. Changes can always be made at the draft stage,” he said. Officials told Express that the Deputy CM ws in favour of revisiting the draft Master Plan in light of the order by NGT and strong public opposition.