When the Karnataka Government threw open parts of its draft Bangalore Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP 2005-2015) for public review in June 2005, there were hopes that the master plan, revised every 10 years, would help the IT capital address the pangs of its abrupt and haphazard growth of the previous decade. On September 12, 2005, the public review period that saw the filing of thousands of objections ended following which the state government began the process of finalising the master plan for a final notification. Even after 18 months the master plan is yet to see the light of day. Officials in the Urban Development department say the plan is unlikely to be notified anytime soon since the present government has shown no interest.“We have not been able to address all objections to the plan. That process is still on,” says the joint director of department. “There is no word from the government on pushing the plan through,” says another from the same department. Realtors in Bangalore, however, say the plan has been held up since it is undergoing constant tinkering as the government facilitates changes in zoning plans to serve private interests. Since the complete master plan was never thrown open for public perusal and with the plan still outside public domain, the amount of tinkering with the plan will never be visible, says T Gopinath, a real estate consultant. “From what we understand of the new master plan is that it aims to redefine land use pattern in Bangalore city and will enable the government to acquire private land to broaden roads in several congested areas,” says Viraj S, a city-based realtor. Former Karnataka revenue minister B Somashekhar recently warned that the state government was playing with the CDP “instead of penalising violators and dealing with the situation.” “The absence of a master plan for Bangalore is hurting development. When investors seek to set up an industry for example, it is difficult to guide them because we don’t know if an area identified as an industrial zone or green belt in the plan will remain so,” says a senior government official associated with the creation of the 2005-2015 plan. The receding greenbelt around the city in particular is a serious cause of concern. While the 1995-2005 CDP put the greenbelt area down to 682 sq km, under the 2015 draft plan it had reduced to 474 sq km. The 2015 master plan for Bangalore has been prepared with the help of a French consortium comprising the City Government of Paris, the Greater Paris Development and Planning Authorities and Sorbonne University among others. The plan comprises some of the most exhaustive digital data for any city in the country. Incidentally, the first Comprehensive Development Plan for Bangalore was approved in October 1984, and it was revised and approved in January 1995. The plan, revised in 1995, still remains the master plan despite the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act,1961, mandating a revision every 10 years.
