Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state government is working like sixty to release the draft Master Plan. Extensive changes are being made in the draft Master Plan prepared by then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government. The draft will be released after its presentation before Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Bureaucrats in the state will get a major relief in the fresh draft of the Master Plan. The floor area ratio (FAR) of the Whispering Palms Colony in the Ratibad area of Khudaganj in Bhopal– where many bureaucrats have built houses – is being changed. As it is considered a low-density area, its FAR is 0.6. In the draft Master Plan, prepared by the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, 0.75 FAR was proposed for the area.
The BJP government made several changes in the Master Plan and amended 0.75 FAR to 0.6 FAR again. Senior officers knew that there would be changes in the FAR, so they constructed houses. As the previous BJP government did not make any change in the FAR, the officers were tense. There are reports that changes will be made in the FAR in which they will be able to do compounding.
According to reports, in the new draft of the Master Plan, FAR may be made 0.75 or more. Many officers, including State Election Commissioner BP Singh, former additional chief secretary RS Julania, secretary in the Government of India Vivek Agarwal, have built houses in this colony. If the FAR of low-density area is increased, those who are building huge houses on the Kerwa dam road will also get a relief.
Their construction will also be in compounding position. In the old draft, the FAR of many areas was made 0.25. For doing more constructions, there was a proposal for buying premium FAR. The government included this proposal in the plan to earn a few more bucks from the house owners. This proposal is being changed. In the state capital, FAR is being proposed afresh for many areas. Keeping in mind legislator Rameshwar Sharma’s opposition FAR is being increased in Kolar area.
Changes to be made in catchment area, green belt
The catchment area in the Upper Lake and the green belt are being changed in the new draft of the Master Plan. In the draft, catchment area was changed from 2,800 hectares to 3,872 hectares. Public representatives protested against this proposal. Now, changes are being made in the catchment area in the new Master Plan. Many villages are being kept out of the catchment area. Along with this, Ratibad and many other areas, kept in the green belt, are being put out of the present draft.
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