Mangalore: MUDA Chairman Speaks on 'Vision Mangalore 2021', Favours Land Pooling

Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)
With Inputs from Media Release

Mangalore, Jul 21: St Aloysius College Alumni Association (SACAA) on Friday July 20 organized a seminar on the subject ‘Vision for Mangalore 2021’ at the College IT auditorium.

Ramesh S, chairman of MUDA (Mangalore urban development authority) was the resource person.

Speaking on the occasion, he said the task of implementing Mangalore’s third comprehensive master plan stretching up to 2021 is headed by him. He spoke on the importance of MUDA and said that it was established by the government mainly to control human habitats in the city.

"Since its inception in 1998, MUDA is striving hard for the development of city so that everything works in order. Various town planning projects are coming up in the city like Mangala water project from Nethravathi river till Kulur covering about 8,000-10,000 km, multi-level car parking system with mechanical parking devices and so on," he said.

He made a strong pitch for the land pooling approach to urban development. Ramesh said that the traditional route to secure land for development was, and is, acquisition, even compulsory, by paying compensation or granting transfer of development rights (TDR) wherein for surrendering the land, the owner gets extra development rights elsewhere or extra FSI (Floor Space Index) – both being marketable and transferable.

"Under the land pooling system, the person who surrenders part of his property, say for widening a lane into a road, benefits by enhanced value of his property because of better approach infrastructure to his property in the form of a wide road in the place of a narrow lane," he said.
 
In this context, Ramesh referred to the ambitious Mangalore Corniche Project stretching from Nethravati bridge to Kuloor Bridge, at an estimated cost of Rs 8,000/10,000 crores, and said that it would be constructed on Public-Private Partnership basis – also taking the land pooling route as the water-fronting properties will gain tremendously in terms enhanced property value.
 
Ramesh said that the latest master plan for Mangalore, stretching to 2021, covers an area of 608 sq km and includes areas beyond the city corporation limits, extending from Talapady in the south to Mulky in the north. He said that MUDA has put in place a close monitoring system to regulate orderly growth of this extended urban area. In the centre of the city itself decongestion is sought to be achieved through a multi-level car-parking/ commercial complex with parking facilities for 800/1,000 vehicles, at a cost of Rs 2.15 crores.
 
SACAA office bearers, Naveen Mascherenhas, secretary, welcomed and introduced the speaker, Arthur D’Souza, president, chaired the meeting, Fr Swebert D’Silva, director, moderated the discussion and John B Monteiro, convener, SACAA Talks, proposed a vote of thanks.