NAGPUR: The long-delayed development plan (DP) for Nagpur has encountered yet another challenge, with the Existing Land Use (ELU) survey yet to be completed in over half of the newly designated municipal areas. Out of 57 mauzas involved, the town planning department of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has only finalized ELUs for 25 mauzas, leaving 32 still incomplete, well past the previous deadline.
Civic officials indicate that the delay is largely due to difficulties in acquiring and reconciling land-use data from the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), responsible for the city’s previous development plan. Sources within the NMC mentioned that the process of transferring and verifying land reservation records from NIT has hindered the creation of updated ELU maps.
The urgency for the revised development plan is heightened by statutory deadlines under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966. The updated DP must be finalized within six months of its notification, establishing a deadline of December 13, 2025, for the NMC to release the city’s growth blueprint. Given the NMC’s history, concerns are rising regarding its ability to meet this timeline and implement the plan effectively.
During a review meeting on Sunday, newly appointed municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar assessed the current situation and instructed the town planning department to finalize the ELU survey for the remaining 32 mauzas by May 31 of this year. Initially, the ELU exercise was set to be completed by December 13 last year, but was delayed due to various administrative and technical issues.
The NMC has broadened the scope of the development plan to include over 22,700 hectares, incorporating merged areas like Narsala and Hudkeshwar, totaling 57 mauzas within its planning framework. However, parts of East Nagpur—such as Bharatwada, Punapur, Pardi, and Bhandewadi—remain outside this framework due to overlapping jurisdictions of the Smart City project, Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), and MahaMetro.
To expedite progress, Itankar has issued a series of administrative directives to the town planning department. These include establishing a dedicated cell for Slum Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and other related cases, which typically require specialized attention and contribute to delays in approvals.
Furthermore, the commissioner urged the department to fill any vacant positions promptly and consider hiring retired personnel with relevant expertise to assist in technical areas. He also asked officials to redistribute workloads among different planning authorities to ensure faster processing of files and the swift completion of ELU work.
Itankar reviewed the department’s financial objectives, asking officials to achieve the annual revenue target of Rs 427 crore from town planning activities within the current fiscal year.
The push to complete the ELU survey underscores the city’s ongoing issues with stalled planning efforts. The last development plan, created in 2000 by the NIT, designated 896 reservations for various civic amenities, including parks, schools, roads, cultural centers, and overhead water tanks. More than two decades later, only 92 reservations—primarily road-widening projects—have been executed, leaving a staggering 804 reservations unfulfilled.
