GUWAHATI, Jan 25 - The Kamrup (Metro) district administration and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) are looking to change the Master Plan and the zoning regulation for the Guwahati Metropolitan Area with a view to shifting the warehouses, truck parking yards and the coal stacking yards which have come up in huge numbers, mostly along the National Highway 37 from Khanapara to Jalukbari, and moving those outside the metropolitan area.
Dr M Angamuthu, Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro), told The Assam Tribune that GMDA would chalk out a suitable proposal for amendment or modification of the relevant provisions of the Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitan Area under Section 22 of the GMDA Act, 1985, for shifting these yards. The proposal will then be submitted to the State government.
�We will remove all these yards. Six months� time will be given them with a notice to relocate to outside GMDA. It will reduce pollution and ease traffic congestion and lead to better land use in the city. We will change the Master Plan and the zoning regulation,� said Dr Angamuthu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GMDA.
He said that the existing Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitan Area was published many years back.
�Since then development has taken place all across the Guwahati Metropolitan Area. Due to paucity of land within the city core and due to the strategic location, development has now taken place along the NH-37 from Khanapara to Jalukbari. A mixed zoning pattern with ribbon development was proposed in the Master Plan along the NH which includes various zones � public, semi-public, residential commercial, Composite I, Composite II and eco-sensitive.
�An interim review of land uses along this strip reveals that quite a number of warehouses and truck parking yards, along with coal stacking yards, have come up. As the city is expanding towards the NH-37, these yards are now conflicting with proper development of Guwahati,� he said.
Dr Angamuthu added, �The warehouses, the truck parking yards and the coal stacking yards are now contributing to pollution and posing hazard to the entire stretch of the NH-37 and also contributing to traffic congestion. They are also threatening the econ-sensitive zones located at Paschim Boragaon like the Deepor Beel. In view of these factors, GMDA may chalk out a suitable proposal for amendment or modification of the relevant provisions of the Master Plan under Section 22 of the GMDA Act, 1985, for shifting these yards outside the purview of the present Master Plan boundary for onward submission to the government.�
