49 municipalites identified for development

Tiruchi: The Department of Municipal Administration will draw up city development plans for 49 grade III municipalities to identify their infrastructure requirements for long-term growth.Several urban local bodies, including major Corporations, have drawn up such plans for their respective cities. This is for the first time that an attempt is being made to draw up development plans for grade III municipalities, which have a population of 30,000 and above.In a pioneering initiative, the business development plans of the municipalities will be drawn up based on the opinion of at least 100 residents, to be elicited through surveys, in each municipality, a senior official of the Department told.

The residents would be asked to give their opinion on the major problems in their city/town, possible solutions and the infrastructure requirements. About 15 major queries are likely to be put forward in the questionnaire.Inputs from the elected representatives and other stakeholders would also be incorporated in the plans. So far, the city development plans were based on consultations with a section of the stakeholders.

The plans would assess the infrastructure in the cities/towns, their requirements over the next 30 years and the credit worthiness of the civic bodies. The initiative would provide a perspective plan for the overall development of the municipalities and mark the first step towards administrative reforms.With most of the major funding agencies insisting on a perspective plan from the civic bodies for financing their projects, it has become imperative that the civic bodies have their development plans ready.