A revised Master Plan for this hill station has come into being. This was disclosed at a meeting of the Udhagamandalam Municipal Council (UMC) here on Monday presided over by Council chairman R. Rajendran.
Senior Town Planning Officer, Udhagamandalam Municipality, A. Varadharajan, said that the revised plan submitted by the civic administration was approved by the government with some modifications a couple of months ago.
However, since council meetings could not be conducted on account of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections' Model Code of Conduct, it was announced only after placing it before the Council. It would be published in the district gazette and main newspapers soon.
Within a week, the Master Plan, including a revised map and new building rules, will be on the municipal website.
Listing the main features of the revised plan, Mr. Varadharajan said that the ban on constructions within 100 metres of the Race Course had been lifted. The height of hotels and lodges could henceforth go up to 10 metres from seven metres at present, provided they were put up on a minimum of 50 cents of land. The proposals would be examined by the Architectural and Aesthetic Aspects (AAA) Committee. The relaxation would not apply to shopping complexes.
Some parts of the town, which fell under the Agricultural Zone category, would, hereafter, be treated as Primary Residential Zones.
Responding to a specific complaint, Mr. Varadharajan averred that if it was found that plans approved for putting up houses had been misused for constructing commercial buildings, they would be demolished.
While K.A. Mustaffa (DMK) said that the Council should pass a resolution thanking the previous government for relaxing the rules, Thambi Ismail (DMDK) suggested that a general resolution be adopted.
