Kerala: City council approves Draft Master Plan 2040

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The council of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has passed the Draft Master Plan 2040 for laying out the development plans for the next two decades. After several rounds of consultations and surveys, the draft was passed unanimously, even though the opposition councillors raised several concerns regarding the proposals.

Arya Rajendran, Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, stated that the issues raised by the opposition will be considered before finalizing the draft master plan. The public will also have the opportunity to put their suggestions and complaints regarding the plan for the next sixty days.

Based on proposed and existing land use patterns, the new draft divides the city into two zones, which are further sub-divided into 25 zones. Areas with ecological limitations are marked as zones for sparse to moderate development, including city suburbs. The central city and extended areas along the prospective Transit Oriented Development (TOD) corridors will come under the moderate to intense development zone including the area.

According to the draft, development zones include mixed residential zones, priority development zones, industrial zones, IT park zones, transportation zones, and tourism zones. It also includes a heritage precinct zone for Kowdiar and fort area and three special zones for setting up a mobility hub, expansion of the Government Medical College, and a special development zone. The draft also proposes greener areas and periodical monitoring of air quality.

Ensuring the public’s opinion of the master plan, the whole process began with a people’s aspiration survey and a socio-economic survey was conducted at 25,000 selected houses.