Master Plan and road connectivity

Road connectivity is paramount to development. This is more true in the case of Hyderabad, which has witnessed tremendous growth over the last two decades. While haphazard growth was witnessed in certain pockets, the city has at last got a Master Plan after a gap of 35 years which aims at channelizing growth systematically. While the existing road infrastructure in the prime area more or less has reached a point of saturation, the focus is now on connectivity with bustling facilities which have come up and a host of projects in the IT,education and others sectors on the anvil in and around the city.

With the release of the master plan for the old MCH area, now Hyderabad has 5 master plans covering Old HUDA area, viz CDA, HUDA,HADA, ORR Growth corridor, Old MCH area and another one for the extended area of HUDA is under preparation. A close look at all the master plans indicates that all these have been prepared in isolation with each other. The existing and proposed roads in one master plan don’t connect to the other master plan of the neighbouring area.For instance, there is no indication of road connectivity between areas in CDA – Growth Corridor region and likewise the MCH core area,HUDA and HADA areas. According to reports,physical inspection of existing roads and their connectivity was not taken up while devising the Master Plan.

Network planning needs to promote objectives like accessibility and connectivity to most places in the city. However, this basic requirement of the interconnectivity of the master plan roads and nalas has been neglected in these five master plans.

The HMDA should prepare one comprehensive master plan incorporating all these five plans for the  erstwhile HUDA rectifying these omissions and then take this as the base for the preparation of the master plan for the extended area of HUDA. A glance at the Master Plan with reference to road connectivity leaves a layman confused.

With the HMDA population expected to touch 1.8 crore by 2031, the new Master Plan envisages 29 new roads besides innumerable link roads. The immediate focus of the planning authorities should be on improving connectivity between the city and ORR.

In this context, it may be mentioned that the Master plan devised by Cyberabad Development Authority in 2001, HADA in 2008, HUDA Master Plans for Outer Ring Road (ORR) for the Growth Corridor failed to indicate/demarcate (read through signboards or notifications) the roads and nalas which resulted in encroachments and misuse.

The land earmarked for Master Plan roads, nalas,drainage, water bodies and their buffer zone areas are private patta lands, the owners of which must be given TDR certificates in lieu of the extent of the land left for such uses. The Government should also exercise right to use these lands for the purpose they were earmarked in the master plan by giving the land owners the TDR certificates. Alternately, the government may also consider proposing a new zoning regulation such as land pooling zone to regulate the development in and around nalas and tanks. “Taking this into consideration, the HMDA which has released its Master Plan should have notified the existing roads and the proposed roads,” says a builder.As this rests, the HMDA plans to develop a Peripheral Ring Road covering 250 km in the surrounding areas as per the draft master plan for the extended areas. While there is no doubt that these ambitious plans look appealing on paper, one has to wait and see their execution and the synchronisation of roads.