Munnar master plan blueprint released

A blueprint of the guidelines for the master plan of Munnar to develop the town and the adjoining nine grama panchayats was released on Tuesday.

The blueprint will be submitted to the government for approval and the notification, when released, will be published in the grama panchayats.

Complaints and suggestions from the public will be called for before releasing the final guidelines, district town planner M.A. Thomas said.

The blueprint was released in Munnar by a team of the district town planning department. Grama panchayat presidents, people's representatives and members of various service organisations attended the meeting.

The highlight of the blueprint is a master plan for environmentally sensitive zones and the areas congenial for taking up development projects. The protected areas have been divided into two zones - most sensitive and sensitive.

The blueprint also highlights the kind of development works most suited for different areas at the panchayat level. Infrastructure development for tourism, agriculture and health care has been given priority.

The projects to be taken up in each panchayat that need further studies on environmental and ecological impact have also been identified.

Deputy town planner Jimmichan Matew, assistant town planer Viswanathan and surveyor Kennedy John explained the features of the blueprint.