Haridwar master plan approved

Major facelift in the offing

Haridwar, December 9
Finally, the much-awaited master plan for Haridwar has been approved, and in the coming years, the city will get a major facelift, which will be in sync with the world’s renowned religious-spiritual-tourist tag attached to it.

Notably, the previous master plan of the city got over in 2007 and since then it was only being given further extension. But now this 2011 master plan has been proposed keeping in mind the 2025 requirements of the city, taking into account various parameters.

Haridwar Development Board(HDA) vice-chairperson Chandra Sekhar Bhatt said that with the master plan coming into effect, the development of the city will be done in a planned manner.

He added that under the new plan, regularisation of irregular colonies and compounding of commercial establishments being operated in areas coming under residential zones will also be carried out.

Also, the illegal constructions that had mushroomed in the city in the past few years would come under scanner, and it would be impossible to build such structures now.

With the implementation of the master plan, the revenue of the HDA, said Bhatt, would also increase manifold as dozens of illegal colonies would be now regularised and tax taken from them.

Simultaneously, those old residential colonies which had been categorised commercial in this plan would also be paying fees in case they wanted to commercialise them, he added.

Anil Tyagi, working secretary of the HDA, pointed out that with the implementation of the master plan, they would be having a separate land bank, which would come in handy when public schemes, projects or for other such purposes land is required.

“Educational, commercial and residential areas will be earmarked separately, paving the way for an organised, legal development of the city,”added Tyagi.

Local residents have welcomed the step, terming it a landmark for the city as besides Haridwar being a world renowned pilgrim city, it has become a fast growing industrial hub in the northern region.

Sudhir Mehta, general secretary of the SIDCUL Industrial Association of Haridwar, expressed happiness that now the city would be living up to its international level, and with the upcoming international airport and master plan development, Haridwar would be one of the prominent cities in terms of residential and commercial aspects.