In what could be the central assistance to every city for planned urban expansion, the Union Housing and Urban Affair Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Local Area Plan (LAP) and Town Plan Schemes (TPS) for 25 smart cities in the country to accelerate resolution of area-based infrastructure issues.
With the central assistance of Rs 50 crore for 25 states for LAP and TPS, the assistance is decided to be released in three installations; 20 per cent with the submission of a preliminary proposal and 40 per cent during submission of a final plan, a ministry statement said.
In order to enable planning for developing infrastructure in the brownfield areas and the green field areas, respectively, the LAP and TPS were formulated under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).
“This exercise as to Local Area Plan and Town Planning Schemes will be winded up in the period of one year wherein the preliminary proposal is for 2 months and the draft plan includes 10 months. For this, Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO) will provide assistance to the state nodal agency,” the ministry added.
Apart from this, the ministry also emphasised the youth participation to observe the different aspects of urban planning and governance, by launching Smart Cities fellowship and internship programmes. The ministry has envisaged engaging 30 young graduates, postgraduates and PhD-holders in fields of urban planning, finance, social sector, urban design, environmental issues, information and technology, urban mobility and engineering.
