Housing & Urban Development Minister of Odisha aims to execute Town Planning Scheme

The housing and urban development department is planning to expand the town planning scheme, currently implemented in Bhubaneswar, to Sambalpur and Rourkela for better urban development.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra convened a high-level meeting on Monday with various development authorities to discuss these initiatives and other critical urban planning topics.

Under the town planning scheme, landowners in Bhubaneswar hand over their land to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), which then redevelops the area with infrastructure like roads, sewerage, and drainage networks.

After redevelopment, 60% of the land is returned to the owners. The scheme aims to bring systematic urban development to other cities as well.

Minister Mahapatra highlighted that only 17% of Odisha's urban areas currently have planned townships, with a target to increase this figure to 30% by 2036. “We aim to build new cities and revitalize older ones to make urbanization more efficient and improve living standards,” he said.

The meeting also addressed various challenges in urban development, particularly in Bhubaneswar. Issues like difficulties in apartment registrations and bottlenecks in part-plot registrations were discussed, as officials worked on finding solutions to streamline the urban planning process across the state.

The department’s focus on planned urbanization aims to ensure balanced growth and infrastructure development in Odisha’s cities, contributing to improved quality of life for residents and supporting economic growth.