The Thiruvananthapuram draft master plan 2031 is unlikely to see the light of the day before the local body elections.
The proposed amendments in the Interim Development Order (IDO), which governs the awarding of building permits and all kinds of land use in the city, in the absence of a sanctioned master plan, have also been hanging fire as these are yet to be taken up for discussion and approval in the meetings of the Corporation council.
The two recent meetings of the Corporation council, convened over video conference, had ended with hardly any transaction of its usual business.
Technical glitches had made the Corporation to cut short the meetings. The amendments to the IDO, which are beneficial to those who were having difficulties in getting their building permit applications cleared as their land was wrongly marked as paddy field or meant for public use, were included in the agenda for the previous council meeting.
The Town Planning Department is almost done with the preparation of the draft master plan.
Strong protests
But the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is also wary of taking it up before the local body elections, considering the strong protests by the people in some wards which were recently added to the Corporation when the previous plan was released some years back.
The plan was then scrapped. Though the latest draft master plan is being prepared by addressing most of the issues from the previous one, there are still concerns of public perception at a time when the local body elections are drawing near.
The Corporation’s Town Planning Standing Committee is planning to get at least the amendments to the IDO passed in the upcoming council meetings. The amendments are meant to benefit those who have been unable to get building permits as their land is supposed to be paddy land or in some specific zone, even though they are not. Such files are now forwarded to the Regional Town Planner's office for concurrence. With these amendments, the Corporation can take the decision at its level itself and avoid the delays faced by the public.
The Mayor has called an all party meeting on Monday to discuss various issues including the holding of council meetings.
The opposition parties had in the previous council meeting raised concerns regarding online meetings and had demanded that meetings should be held in the council hall.
