Sunday, September 22, 2013

Industrial Township at Raghunathpur

Last Friday, Minister Firhad Hakim released a Kolkata Gazette Extraordinary Notification dated 9th September 2013 indicating that the Land Use Plan for an Industrial Township at Raghunathpur was frozen under section 37 of the West Bengal Town and Country Planning Act 1979. According to it, three blocks (Raghunathpur I, Raghunathpur II and Neturia[part]) and Raghunathpur Municipality constitute Raghunathpur Planning Area. Its area is 480 sq km and population is 2.26 lakhs.

The vision is: "Creating another well-planned, state-of-the-art Industrial Hub for Eastern Region at Raghunathpur".

Publication of the Gazette was a culmination of a long and detailed journey that began on 12th Oct 2011 with the declaration of Raghunathpur Planning Area through a Cabinet decision. The Land Uses were captured through a field survey, a draft Land Plan was published, objections were invited through newspaper advertisements and finally, after considering all aspects, the Land Use Development and Control Plan (LUDCP) was notified.

Here is a picture with Minister Hakim taken at the PHE Bungalow near Panchet Dam, near Garpanchakot in Raghunathpur :

The Land Plan allocates 25% of the land area for industrial uses. This means, almost 30,000 acres are available for industrial use. Other major uses planned are residential townships (30%), Agriculture (19%), Transportation and Communication (7%) etc.
As a follow up, it was further decided that an Economic Corridor from Ranigunj to Dhanbad via Raghunathpur would be planned. An alignment surbey would be started by Urban Development Department soon.
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In pursuance of optimising land use in urban areas, planned densification of cities is a stated objective of the State Government. As a first step, in the CBD and Sub-CBD zones of New Town Kolkata, non-residential plot owners would be able to buy additional FAR (Floor Area Ratio) if their plots were located within 250 metres of the metro railway line being constructed. In the last Board Meeting of Hidco, the permission fees were decided. Depending on the year of plot allotment, a fee ranging from 36% to 67% would be payable for those seeking increases FAR in this financial year.

3 comments:

  1. An excellent proposal! One question though --- is it evolutionary (part of a well thought out overall development plan) or revolutionary (product of an inspired decision-taking episode)? Currently, the Andal Aerotropolis appears to be the logical air hub. Wouldn't the British-era airstrip at Ningha been more convenient for locating the aerotroplois? Which will be the designated railhead (road network will have to be developed) for the industrial hub --- Asansol, Durgapur or Ranigunj? Whatever be the cause, a non-Kolkata-centric, non-protest-induced initiative is commendable and most welcome. Kudos!!!

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  2. this is to be our dream project. Raghunathpur is ideally located
    1. nearer to the Eastern DFC from Amritsor to Kolkata.
    2. closer to the NH 2
    3.Adra is a important junction located in this region
    4. closer to mines of coal and iron
    5. water from nearer panchet reservoir.
    6. located in backward region and help to boost the economy of locals.
    7. new anal airport is not far from this region.

    govt. should plan in 3-4 phases and create an greenfield planned industrial township (better livelihood) which will absorb 15 lacs persons in next 30 years and create at least 5 lacs jobs in these period.

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