Shimla: Development Plan 2041 to have ‘counter magnet town’

SHIMLA: To mitigate the load of urbanisation from Shimla, a ‘counter magnet town’ in proximity to the airport has been proposed in ‘Development Plan 2041’, to make space for approximately one lakh future population.

Following the transit-oriented development proposal of bypass road, satellite towns in Ghandal Naldhera, Fagu and Chamiyana have also been proposed. These will be incorporated in the already existing development proposal. Shimla Municipal Corporation, Kufri Special Area Development Authority, Ghanahatti, etc. are included in the development plan of Shimla. The town will have a GIS-based development plan, which will ease down various issues, said Suresh Bhardwaj, Urban Development Minister, Government of Himachal Pradesh.

This plan entails integration of ropeways and rapid transport system so as to reduce the already existing traffic scenario on Shimla roads. In the aforementioned plan, multimodal hubs, tunnels and junction improvement throughout the city will also be involved. Out of the total land available that is 12.15%, residential land will be allotted 5.51%. The area under public and semi-public use has been increased from 1.15% to 1.39% on the basis of identification of government land available.