Four decades on, Shimla to have development plan

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, February 8

Decks have been cleared for the “Queen of the Hills” to have a Shimla Development Plan (SDP) as it had been expanding haphazardly on the basis of the 1979 interim development plan.

Also read: Shimla expansion draft proposes 4 satellite towns

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department today notified the SDP, inviting suggestions and objections before finalising the document. “This is a historic moment. Things which were never thought about in 40 years will see light of the day soon,” said TCP and Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj. He said the town would have a GIS-based development plan and deal with several issues, besides providing relief to people of the town.

The SDP proposes to allow construction on sandwiched plots in 17 green belts, provided it does not involve cutting of trees. There has been a complete ban on the construction in the green belts since 2000. The plan proposes to allow construction in the core area, banned by the NGT, and enhance the limit of two-and-a-half storey in the non-core area to three-and-a-half storey.

The other highlights of the SDP include a proposal for four satellite townships at Ghandal, Naldehra, Fagu and Chamiyana to decongest the capital town along with multi modal hubs, tunnels and multilevel parkings for better urban mobility. There is also a proposal to develop heritage walks, walking/running trails and sky bridges in the core area.

With the town facing severe traffic congestion, the SDP proposes non-motorised transport system. This will include integration of ropeways and rapid transport system development to strengthen the public transportation system and reduce traffic in the whole planning area.

The SDP also focuses giving a boost to tourism development by launching heli-taxi. With commercial development being the prime factor for the robust urban development, the area under commercial use has been increased from 0.41 to 0.53 per cent. Of the developed area, the commercial use has been increased from 2.75 to 4.16 per cent.

The residential land use has been enhanced from 5.51 to 12.15 per cent to accommodate the population increase. Of the developed area, the residential area has been increased from 56.44 to 63.25 per cent.

In addition, commercial land use has been provided in form of mix land use, along with the main roads, which has been increased from 3.99 to 9.36 per cent. To create employment opportunities related with non-polluting small-scale industries, various provisions have been laid in building guidelines. The area under industrial use has been increased from 0.15 sq km to 0.24 sq km which is 0.51 per cent of the total proposed developed area.

The area under public and semi-public use has been increased from 1.15 to 1.39 per cent based on the identification of government land available in the SDP.

Plan at a glance

Shimla Development Plan (SDP) period: 2041

Area of operation of SDP: 22,450 hectares

Population (2011 Census): 2,41,429

Projected population for 2041: 6,25, 127

Commercial use enhanced from 0.41 to 0.53%

Residential land use enhanced from 5.51 to 12.15%

Mix land use up from 3 to 9.36%

Area under industrial use enhanced from 0.15 sq kms to 0.24 sq km

Area under public and semi-public use increased from 1.15 to 1.39%

Area under transportation, communication up from 4.81 to 6.27 per cent

Existing developed area under various uses: 2,406 hectares

Additional area requirement at the rate of 120 persons/hectare: 2,789 hectares