BHUBANESWAR: Focusing on the planned development of urban areas, the housing and urban development department is planning to extend the currently implemented town planning scheme in the state capital to Sambalpur and Rourkela.
Housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra on Monday held a high-level meeting with the various development authorities. During the meeting, discussions on extending the town planning scheme to other cities and other key topics were taken up.
The town planning scheme is currently being implemented in Bhubaneswar. As a part of this scheme, landowners hand over their land to Bhubaneswar Development Authority, which then returns 60% of the land after redeveloping it with proper roads, sewerage and drainage networks.
Following the meeting, Mahapatra said currently only 17% of Odisha‘s urban areas have planned townships, and there is an aim to increase this to 30% by 2036. “New cities will be built, and older cities will be revitalised to simplify urbanisation and enable better living standards for all,” he said.
Officials during the meeting also discussed ongoing challenges faced in the urban development sector across the state, particularly in Bhubaneswar, such as hurdles in the registration of apartments and bottlenecks in part plot registration.
