Thiruvananthapuram: Draft city masterplan scraps land bank

Thiruvananthapuram: The draft master plan 2031 for Thiruvananthapuram has been modified after removing some of its most disputed proposals, and the new copy has been submitted to the corporation for review by the town planning department.  However, Mayor V.K. Prashant said that it was  yet to come to his notice.

According to sources in the department, the new plan has done away with one of the most controversial proposals in the original draft - to earmark land for various developmental plans.

It had raked up protests in areas like Attipra, as land was marked for the future expansion of Technopark.  The people would not be issued building permits as their land fell in the earmarked area.

In the modified plan, the department has suggested that land be earmarked only if there is a concrete expansion plan. The locations for the expansion will not be specified in the master plan.

Land in places like Attipra and Kadakampalli near institutions like VSSC and BrahMos Aerospace was marked as strategically important. The plan proposed that  constructions posing  any security threat needed the approval of these institutions. The new plan has discarded this proposal.

Certain areas were marked as green strips where no construction is allowed. However building permits would be issued to those  who owned at least two hectares.  In the new plan there is no ceiling, but the constructions will be subject to conditions.

The proposal to shift Central Prison, Poojappura, SCTIMST and RCC to Chenkottukonam has been scrapped. The concept to develop Chenkottukonam and Vizhinjam as growth centres remains.

The mayor said that he had a brief discussion with Minister for Urban Affairs Manjalamkuzhi Ali on the master plan, but there was no mention of a modified plan. “The corporation’s stand will be to support a plan, which the people approve of,” he said.