News - Mangalore

Mangalore:- Finding a perfect solution to problems of urban development is a complex task as it involves a gamut of problems that cannot be addressed singularly through a policy, said A Ravindra, adviser to chief minister on urban affairs here on Friday.

Speaking at the one-day workshop on 'Draft urban development policy' here, Ravinndra said probably for the first time in the country a policy was being formulated inviting public opinion. "Our intention is that the policy should be discussed widely and address all concerned," he said observing that such workshops have been held at Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli-Dharward.

Indicating that more than 50% of the global population was urbanized, he said in India it was less due to various issues. Ravindra said new inputs will make the policy robust as treading the old path of development will stymie development.

In his introductory remarks, deputy commissioner V Ponnuraj brought to the notice of Ravindra issues on development of the coastal region. He said the policy has given importance to Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli-Dharward, but Mangalore was developing at a faster pace than the latter two cities.

Regarding the move to abolish Urban Development Authorities, DC said the District Planning Committees (DPCs) will not do justice to urban development as their focus was more rural-centric. Emphasizing that an urban-centric approach should be given priority, Ponnuraj said the DPC was just a namesake body. He also suggested making the urban local body (ULB) chief as the chairman of the DPC, instead of a zilla panchayat head, which could give more focus to urban-centric approach.

Ponnuraj said during funds allocation in ULBs there should be guided mechanism so that priority wards get maximum funding instead of equal distribution of allocation. The DC also suggested the need for co-ordination between different local bodies; more focus on housing for economically weak sections; method for arriving for tariffs (water, drainage etc) so that it could be self sustaining.

Mayor Shankar Bhat said though many states had mayor in council type of administration, he rued that Karnataka still did not think it fit to have one. Bhat also had a word of caution saying that after taking all inputs it should not be said that Mangalore cannot be included in UDP as it did not have the required population while implementing the policy, like it happened in the case of JNNURM.

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