Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Special Report: Shining & Developed Hyderabad A Myth?

By Ramesh Reddy / Hyderabad

Comprehensive Transportation Study Says 64% Of City Yet To Have Proper Facilities. Contrary to claims on development of Hyderabad, only 676 square kilometres (36%) of the erstwhile Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) area is developed and the remaining 1,212 sq kms (64%) is still undeveloped. Also, the growth of the developed area was just 7% in the past 10 years, which is not even considered ‘rapid growth’ by planning consultants. 
    
The erstwhile Huda area covers about 1,886 sq kms, comprising Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and some surrounding panchayats such as Shamshabad, Manikonda, Poppalguda, Boduppal, Jawaharnagar, Nizampet, Pragatinagar and other areas. 
The general perception is that the erstwhile Huda area is developed, where development has come to a saturation point. The undeveloped and vacant land is available only in the extended area of Huda (present Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) covering 7,228 sq kms. However, the land use details of the erstwhile Huda area, compiled for both 2000 and 2011 years as part of preparation of the master plan and Comprehensive Transportation Study (CTS) of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region, shows that reality is different from popular perception. 
    
The total developed land in the erstwhile Huda area was 676 sq kms till 2011, including residential, settlement, commercial, manufacturing and public and semi-public use. The residential area in the Huda area was 323 sq kms (17.11%), village settlements exists in 29 sq kms (1.52%) and commercial land use in 23 sq kms (1.22%). 
    
Considerable extent of the land, 350 sq km (18.57%), was in the conservation zone where open space and only 20% of development would be allowed that too for residential purposes. In 2000, the developed area was 537 sq km (29%) of the total land in Huda and now it has reached to 676 sq kms (36%) which means development was only7%. 
    
Similarly, the residential area was 289 sq kms (15.52%) in 2000 which rose to 323 sq kms (17.11%) in 2011. The commercial land use development in the past 10 years was less than 1%. The commercial area was 22 sq km and in 2011 the commercial built up area reached 23 sq kms. 
    
“While there is no vacant land in the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) area, development in Huda area was confined to only a few mandals of surrounding areas as there are no basic amenities like water, drainage, road network and transportation facilities. Once the Outer Ring Road (ORR) is completed, transportation will improve tremendously,” a HMDA chief planning officer said. 
    
Interestingly, the HMDA has taken up planning for comprehensive transportation study to improve facilities in the long term. It has already started measures like improving radial roads connecting ORR, plan for peripheral ring road outside the ORR. 
    
In the master plan, the land use for transport and communication was increased to 67 sq kms (3.53%) in 2011 from 49 sq kms (2.62%) in 2000. Since protection of water bodies is being given top priority, coverage of water bodies has slightly improved from 93 sq km to 94 sq kms. 
    
“HMDA is now focusing on development of 13 urban nodes and 46 urban centers in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region (HMR). The development of the urban nodes and centres will lead to economic and employment activity that will help in balanced and sustainable development of HMR,” a planning consultant of the authority said. 

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