Master plan survey from today

A team of 130 trained volunteers will be deployed for the purpose

The city Corporation’s land use survey in various wards ahead of the preparation of the city master plan will begin on Thursday.

The survey will be conducted in the wards of Kazhakuttam, Chanthavila, Kattayikkonam, Njandoorkonam, Powdikkonam, Chempazhanthy, and Sreekaryam initially.

A team of 130 volunteers will be deployed for the purpose. They have been provided training. The Mayor appealed to the public to provide accurate information to the field-level surveyors so that an error-free master plan can be prepared.

The initial work on the master plan, which began early last year, was supposed to have been finished by December that year, but delay in allocation of funds and non-availability of satellite images contributed to the delays.

Considering the backlash the draft master plan-2031 had received, which had to be withdrawn four years ago, the Town Planning Department and the city Corporation are ensuring that the public are taken along, in every step of preparation. The master plan comes under the Central government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which has set different norms on the survey to assess land-use patterns.

Socio-economic survey

Parallel to the land-use survey, students volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS) are conducting a socio-economic survey. The master plan is expected to be finalised by October next year. Since the National Remote Sensing Centre made available satellite images of the city after a delay of more than a year-and-a-half, the deadline set for AMRUT could be relaxed.

A mobile application and a website have been launched to collect the opinion of the public on the preparation of the master plan. Suggestions can be given ward-wise and sector-wise.

The opinion of the public will be taken in both stages, initially to know their aspirations and finally, after the preparation of the proposal, to know whether any changes should be made.