Stakeholders from the government and the private sector pitched in on Saturday with their views and recommendations on sustaining the growth and development of Mysuru with a long-term vision spanning the next few decades.
The focus is on the equitable and sustainable growth of the city in terms of infrastructure, investment etc., and the exercise was part of a programme organised by the Mysuru chapter of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and Mysuru Urban Development Authority to create greater awareness on Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SCIAP) programme.
Mysuru is one of the 5 cities selected as part of SCIAP programme which aims to integrate sustainability strategies into urban planning and management of cities to create a favourable environment for investments in transformative projects, infrastructure and service delivery
The organisers said the project is funded by GEF-6 through UNIDO and is being piloted in Bhopal, Guntur, Jaipur, and Vijayawada apart from Mysuru.
The project entails many components including sustainable urban planning and management, investment projects and technology demonstration, low emission and environmentally sound technologies which contribute to reduction in the greenhouse gas emission, partnerships and knowledge management platform, monitoring and evaluation.
MUDA Chairman H.V.Rajeev told The Hindu on the sidelines of the event that the city’s horizontal expansion was unsustainable and pointed out that even the current development outside the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) limits had resulted in haphazard growth beyond the Outer Ring Road. There were islands of planned development amidst a sea of chaotic growth on the periphery of the city.
Mr.Rajeev said the existing green cover and planned development within the ORR and the MCC limits was made possible by the vision of the maharajas and such a vision should guide the future growth of Mysuru as well.
D.B. Natesh, Commissioner, MUDA, said there are various parameters in which Mysuru has scope for improvement including the use of non-motorised vehicles by encouraging cycling and laying more dedicated cycle tracks.
There was a perception that the ongoing 10-lane highway connecting Mysuru and Bengaluru would boost the city’s growth and any planning should envisage the growth pattern and dovetail it in the vision statement or document.
The stakeholders also opined that any future planning for the city should factor in the development thrust to be provided by the airport which was set for expansion and the Mysuru Airport Director Manjunath provided statistics to highlight the passenger traffic till October. Representatives of UN Habitat, NAREDCO, builders and developers were among those present.
