Experts back new cities instead of merging villages

PUNE: Planning new cities instead of funding the renewal of existing ones is a growing idea among urban planners and other experts, including those in Pune.
In their opinion, such satellite towns, built within a 50-100 km radius would be cost-effective and faster to achieve, and if well-connected, enable people to live on the fringes and travel to the city to work.It would also take the slums out of the city, they felt.
Urbanisation is not just the concentration of population in urban areas, but for provision of urban facilities in non-urban fringes. Considering the failure in implementation of the regional and the development plan, the focus of Pune's development should be on expansion to fringe areas as an urban conglomeration without merging the fringe areas, the experts said.
"Merging villages with the city has proved unsuccessful in Maharashtra. Mumbai and Pune are two glaring examples of failure of this merger model. Urbanisation is defined by urban facilities. The assimilation has not helped improve facilities in the merged areas. Instead, the civic body is under pressure to provide infrastructure within its limited resources," said former state town planning director P T Hardikar. The state government should plan schemes to urbanise city fringes without merging the areas, he added.
Across the world, urbanisation patterns show that cities of various sizes are connected along transport routes that are linked to mega cities, covering their hinterlands. Such new urban corridors are experiencing the fastest growth rates and the most rapid urban transformation, reports UN-HABITAT's State of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Urban Divide.
"The impact of all this growth on space, environment and quality of life will be huge. The provision of infrastructural facilities required to support such a large concentration of population is lagging far behind the pace of urbanisation. As a consequence, the urban environment, particularly in large cities, is deteriorating very rapidly," observed K C Sivaramakrishnan and B N Singh in their research paper on urbanisation.
"All cities have severe shortage of water supply, sewerage, developed land, housing, transportation and other facilities. The level, quality and distribution of services have been very poor. Several studies have indicated that large segments of urban population do not have access to drinking water, sanitation, basic health services and education," they add.
This is true to Pune city which has expanded from 7.74 sq km in 1857 to 243.8 sq km today in 2013. Civic records show that South Shankarsheth Road to Ambil Nullah Road, Northeast right bank of the Mutha river, East Wellesly Road to New Modikhana near Nagzari was defined as Pune in 1857.
In 1958, the 18 villages of Bopodi, Dhanori (part), Yerawada, Lohegaon (part), Wadgaon Sheri (part), Ghorpadi (part), Mundhwa (part), Hadapsar (part), Hingne (Budruk), Dhankawdi, Pashan (part), Aundh, Wanowrie, Bhosari, Dapodi, Kalas (part) were included in the city's limits.
In 1997, 38 villages were included in Pune, but following the opposition from several villages, 15 complete and five partial villages were dropped from the civic limits in 2001. The Development Plan (DP) for remaining 23 villages merged with the city reflect haphazard development and a huge infrastructural strain.
However, the state and the Pune Municipal Corporation are convinced about the merger model. To accommodate population and "achieve planned growth" of fringe areas around the city, the state government in 2012 issued a notification to bring 28 fringe villages in the PMC limits, a move which will increase the civic body's geographical area to more than 450 sq km from the present 243.84 sq km.
The expanded city could come close to or be even bigger than the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which, as the largest civic body in the state, covers an area of 480.24 sq km.
Former assistant director of the state town planning department Ramchandra Gohad said that merged villages remain underdeveloped as the Pune Municipal Corporation has failed to implement the 1966 and 1987 Development Plans (DP).
He said the failure of implementation of the Regional Plan (RP) deprived villages and municipal councils in the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) of development. "Villages surrounding Pune need financial support to develop urban infrastructure. The state government should functionalize Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), which could be funding source for villages and municipal councils in PMR" said Gohad.
The RP has recommended new towns at a distance of 80 to 100 km from Pune between Baramati and Kurkumbh industrial area with five to seven lakh population together with peripheral ring towns of 0.50 to 1.50 lakh each around existing/proposed industrial area at nodal points.
Residential townships were suggested at 25-30 km and 50-80 km distance as ring towns. The RP emphasized on controlling the development in the fringe areas of PMC and PCMC comprising 53 villages identified as influence villages having rapid growth. But like the DP, the implementation of RP has largely remained on paper.
The state government is pushing for a proposal seeking permission to use Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) funds for development of fringe areas. "Other states have supported the proposal. Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, Alandi, Lonavla and Talegaon municipal councils, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats falling under PMR will get the benefit of funds," said a senior state official.
BOX 1
Territorial Expansion of PMC Limits
Year Area (Sq.Km) Increase(Sq.Km)
1857 7.74 -
1889 9.86 2.12
1890 18.04 8.18
1931 18.79 0.75
1935 19.05 0.26
1958 138.9 119.85
1975 138.05 -0.85
1981 146.95 8.9
1985 146.11 -0.84
1997 376.89 230.78
2001 243.8 -133.09
BOX 2
Advantage of urban corridors
* They stimulate business, real-estate development and land values along their ribbon-like development areas
* These corridors improve inter-connectivity and create new forms of interdependence among cities, leading to regional economic development growth
* Recent research show that the world's 40 largest mega-regions cover only a tiny fraction of the earth's habitable surface and are home to lesser than 18% of the world's population. Yet, they account for 66% of global economic activity and about 85% of technological and scientific innovation.
(SOURCE UN-HABITAT's State of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Urban Divide)
BOX 3
Regional Plan Proposals to Connect Pune Urban Conglomeration
* State highway link connecting ring towns
* State highway link from Pune-Ahmednagar highway connecting Nhavara-
Kadgaon, Supa-Sangvi.
* Jejuri-Morgaon-Baramati Road
* Saswad- Pisarve-Supa- Undavadi Road
* Quadrupling of the railway track from Pune to Lonavla
* Strengthening and improving services between Pune and Daund
* Improving the services between Pune and Jejuri including introduction
of new shuttle services
* Conversion of Daund-Baramati narrow gauge railway line to broad
gauge
* Extension of Daund-Baramati broad gauge line up to Lonand via
Phaltan
BOX 4
Why the emphasis on merging villages ?
Municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak said that though the geographical limits will expand after the merger, Pune's population has to be in excess of one crore for it to become a metropolitan city. In the last decade, the population in Pune's urban agglomeration grew by 34.28% according to provisional census figures. The city's population is about 33 lakh.
A merger could help curb illegal constructions in the fringe areas. The scramble for affordable homes has led to rampant illegal constructions in the villages, where building plans are sanctioned by the gram panchayat
Town planners say the 0.4 Floor Space Index (FSI) for the fringe villages is routinely violated, with gram panchayats sanctioning up to 8 FSI in many cases. Such violations were found in a 20-25 km radius around the PMC limits
The provisions of Section 18 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966 do not allow construction in areas other than municipal corporations and municipal councils without the permission of the district collectorate. In effect, the state took back the power of the sarpanch who had been issuing building permits for years. However, this has not helped to curb rampant constructions in villages.
Also the lucrative realty business is at the heart of the merger model, going by the Mundhwa experience where 938 acres of agricultural land was recently converted to residential use.
The ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has a strong base in rural Pune and wants to consolidate its vote bank in Pune city by connecting fringe villages to the city area.