New Delhi (NVI): The National Capital Region, often dubbed as Mini India, is envisaged to be bigger, better, grander, sustainable, disastrous resilient and citizen centric with seamless harmonious ease of living by 2041 as a Master Plan in this regard expected to be ready by 2021.
As per a report by the United Nations, Delhi is slated to become the world’s largest metropolis overtaking Tokyo by 2028. The NCR is a distinct federal setup and covers around 55,083 sq kms of area with around 60 million population.
“I am hopeful that the National Capital Region 2041 Masterplan would be ready by 2021. The focus over the last few years has been on urbanisation. The plan would have to be citizen centric and would have to look at improving livelihoods, it would have to focus on sustainability, improving air quality index, tackle issues such as flooding and preserve the bio diversity, culture and heritage of the areas,” says Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra.
“The Regional Plan-2041 would be a plan of our dreams and aspiration set in a practical context and that it must be published before mid-2021,” he said. The regional plan with the horizon year 2021 was notified on September 17, 2005 and is presently in force.
“The plan would have to focus on harmonious development of the entire region whose population is almost equal to that of France or Italy,” he added while speaking at a conclave on National Capital Region -2041, organised by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) here on Monday.
The 2041 regional plan should focus on improving livability, economic ability, sustainability, try and make the National Conservation Zone more effective, look at ways to integrate rural and urban, utilise opportunities provided by the Transit Oriented Development policy and redevelopment, he told the conclave titled “Planning for Tomorrow’s Greatest Capital Region”.
“We would look at the global best practices and see where other countries have succeeded and where they have failed, why they have succeeded and why they have failed so that we can learn from them. This is going to be the world’s most populous city in 10 years time. We have a very short time frame and therefore we need to plan it properly and make it entirely workable,” said Archana Agrawal, member secretary, NCR Planning Board.
According to data of National Capital Region Planning Board, Delhi has been experiencing phenomenal growth of population since 1951 recording decennial growth rate of 52.44%, 52.91%, 52.98%, 51.45% and 47.03% during 1951-61, 1961-71, 1971-81 and 1991-01 decades respectively.
“One of the main causes for this spurt in the growth of population is migration into the city not only from the adjacent states but also from others such as Bihar. The growth of population of Delhi has contributed to increasing congestion and shortages of civic amenities, the NCRPB website says adding “It has been felt that as Delhi grows, its problems of land, housing, transportation and management of essential infrastructure like water supply and sewerage would become more acute.”
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