Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary has stressed the need for effective town planning and asserted that it plays a crucial role in the Central government’s efforts to make living in urban areas enjoyable.
Addressing the second convocation of the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) here on Friday, Mr. Chowdary said town planning was as old as civilizations as it dealt with human settlements and that it gained popularity and importance with the surge in urbanisation.
The flooding of Hyderabad last week and Chennai in November 2015 highlight the significance of town planning.
“Planning of human settlements in the present-day context should take into its ambit the requirements of green energy, clean water, mass mobility, nutrition, education, health care, waste management etc. to achieve a certain degree of sustainable living. This is essential for the successful implementation of the Smart City, AMRUT, HRIDAY and Swachch Bharat Missions”, he observed.
New urban centres in A.P.
The Union Minister further said the government was not leaving any stone unturned to provide the best infrastructure in urban and also rural areas and for that purpose had taken various initiatives. ‘Clean and green energy’ was not a buzzword 10 to 15 years ago but it had become a thrust area with the objective to reduce the per capita carbon footprint.
“Till a few years ago, nobody even bothered to know about the carbon footprint and carbon credits. The situation has changed. Every individual should be equipped to handle the change and contribute his or her might to achieve the larger goals,” he added.
Mr. Chowdary said that Visakhapatnam in the north, Tirupati in the south and Anantapur-Hindupur in the southwest were going to be self-sustainable urban centres in Andhra Pradesh with Amaravati in the middle.
They were going to be connected with mass rapid mobility systems and other infrastructure that would make them world-class.
SPA Director Ramesh Srikonda said 138 candidates passed out of five (Bachelors Degrees in Planning and Architecture, Master Degree in Architecture- Sustainable Architecture, and Masters Degrees in Planning- Urban and Regional Planning and Environmental Planning and Management) courses for 2015-16.
Construction of the hostel block in the new SPA premises coming up near Government ITI would be completed by February 2017 and the institute and dining blocks by June 2017, he added. MLAs Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan and Bode Prasad were among the dignitaries present.
