The Uttar Pradesh housing department, through its housing development agencies, is set to strengthen urban planning by providing inputs on infrastructure-related works undertaken in cities. This move aims to ensure better coordination and avoid planning errors that have plagued past projects.
Scope of Oversight
The department has specified 16 different types of works for which detailed project reports will be required. These include traffic improvement works, solid waste management facilities, foot overbridges, water bodies restoration programmes, drainage systems, parking complexes, electrification, and utility laying. A team of experts with backgrounds in urban planning will be deputed to study these projects before they are implemented. If necessary, the assistance of the chief town and country planner will be sought.
Learning from Past Mistakes
Highlighting the need for such oversight, a former chief town and country planner cited examples of poorly planned infrastructure. He mentioned the Para railway overbridge, where construction was delayed due to building issues. Another example is the Vibhuti Khand railway overbridge in Gomtinagar, which connects the PICUP building to Lohia Park crossing. Built over a decade ago, the flyover terminates just before Lohia Park chauraha, a busy thoroughfare. It could have been extended beyond the intersection, but the construction agency did not consult the planning department when changing the alignment.
Vikas Chaurasia, a private contractor from C Block, Indiranagar, added that the Lucknow Development Authority recently constructed the Green Corridor, but it merges with roads that witness heavy traffic. He suggested that underpasses or overpasses at junctions would have better managed the traffic load.
Official Order
Principal Secretary of the Housing Department, P Guruprasad, issued the order on May 27, circulating a list of 16 work areas requiring close collaboration between agencies. This initiative is expected to improve urban infrastructure planning across Uttar Pradesh cities.
