Thane unveils mega plans

Milind Ballal / TNN / May 1, 2006, 00:49 IST

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Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) will require Rs 5,175.25 crore to implement its city development plan.

THANE: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) will require Rs 5,175.25 crore to implement its city development plan (CDP), which aims to cater to the needs of a projected population of 34 lakh by 2031. TMC commissioner Sanjay Sethi unveiled the plan before the people's representatives on Saturday.
Sethi said, "The idea is to have a better perspective of the city's all-round development.It will help us identify the focus areas and make it clear how much finances will be needed to implement projects categorised short-, medium- and long-term goals."
The development strategy adopted by the TMC envisages categorising infrastructure as physical, environmental or social. The blueprint is an extension of the city's plan and discusses various financial options��like Public Private Participation, Build Own Operate Transfer, Build Operate Transfer.
Physical infrastructure deals with power and transport, like flyovers, subways, station area traffic improvement and mass rapid transport.

Environmental infrastructure deals with water supply, sewerage and solid waste management. Social infrastructure is related to education, health and slum redevelopment. Developing playgrounds and tourism also fall in the last category.
The TMC administration has put a lot of effort into drawing up the document. The process called for the services of experts whose study group gave the civic body vital facts about the existing infrastructure.

The city, which has a population of about 15.44 lakh, will witness a decadal growth of 28.92% and reach a likely figure of 33.66 lakh by 2031.
The vision document called for mapping the city, which brought forward some interesting facts. The city has a developable area of 3,862 hectares. There are 804 reserved sites of which only 69 have been developed.
Upto 149 reservations were encroached and 115 affected by the CRZ. The total number of vehicles in the city was 9.15 lakh, including the 288 buses run by the Thane Municipal Transport.
The demand for power is 190mw and water for 3.95 water connections is 362 mld. Only 17% of the population is covered by the underground sewerage project. Of the total sewage generation of 210mld only 54mld is treated, the report stated.
Although per capita income has increased, the employment level has dropped due to industries migrating to neighbouring states. The 1991 census showed that most residents travelled out of the city to work, making Thane more or less a dormitory town.

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