SPATIAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

District-wise Zoning Atlas

The district-wise zoning atlas for siting of industries, zones and classifies the environment in a district and presents the pollution receiving potential of various sites/zones in the district and the possible alternate sites for industries, through easy-to-read maps (1:250,000 scale). Work for 63 districts have been completed and for 73 districts zoning atlas is under progress. These districts cover 21 States and an Union Territory.

Industrial Estate Planning

The industrial estate planning studies have been taken up at micro-level (1:50,000 and lower) to identify the sites for industrial estates and to suggest waste disposal sites. So far, the studies have been completed for twelve sites. In respect of the sites of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya; the reports have been sent to respective State Pollution Control Boards for follow-up with the concerned departments for identifying the exact location of the sites and pollution abatement infrastructure.

State-wise Mapping of Sensitive Zones and Industrial Sites

The activity on mapping of environmentally sensitive zones and industrial sites aims at presenting the information on environmentally sensitive zones, like national parks, reserved forests and protected forests; and industrial sites in the form of maps (1:1 M scale). The work has been completed for 12 states and is in progress for 6 other states (Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu).

Regional/State Planning

Pilot studies on regional planning were taken up for Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal and the entire State of Tripura. These studies are for demonstrating the utility of environmental planning tools for achieving overall developmet of the District/Region/State in a sustainable Manner. The studies for Jalpaiguri and Tripura have been completed and the reports are under finalisation.

Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for Urban Areas

The overall objective of the study is to identify measures for improvement of environmental quality in cities and ensure that the environmental risks from various developmental activities are minimized and the development/siting of further activities takes place in environmentally sound manner. Subsequent to Kanpur study, the EMP study on Agra has been completed and priority projects have been identified. Preparation of EMPs is in progress for Indore, Vadodara, Taj Trapezium Zone, Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Chennai and Agartala.

The following recommendations has been made in the EMP for Agra, which have been incorporated in the new Mater Plan of Agra City.

· Integration of all sectoral development plans
· Relocation of certain activities
· Improvement of identified areas
· Improvement of road network
· Protection of environmental resources
· Conceptualization of Taj Ecocity

In continuation to the EMP Agra City, a similar report is being prepared for Firozabad City. To improve the environmental quality of the "Glass City", a comprehensive plan is being chalked out.

Environmental Management Plans for Mining Areas/Tourism areas/ Environmentally fragile areas

The EMP studies for mining areas have been taken up for intensive coal mining areas of Korba and Dhanbad and limestone belt of Satna.

EMP studies for tourism areas have been taken up for Bakel Fort (Kerala) and Macleodganj (Himachal Pradesh).

Panchmarhi Biosphere Reserve located in Madhya Pradesh has been taken up for EMP for environmentally fragile area.

Eco-city Project

To bring in visible environmental improvement through comprehensive urban improvement system, the pilot project on "Kottayam-Kumarakom Ecocities" project was commenced. The Central Pollution Control Board has provided the needed technical inputs for launching the project.

To protect Taj Mahal and to ensure sustainable development of the area, it is contemplated to develop "Taj Ecocity" in an area of about 25 sq.km., around Taj Mahal in Agra. The project to be implemented in the Ist phase had been identified by the Uttar Pradesh Government and the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

The concept of Ecocity has emerged from the EMP Agra City. The major thrust areas are- heritage corridor, industry zone, hotel zone, trade and commerce zone, agriculture and horticultural zone encompassing Taj Mahal and river Yamuna. Imprtant recommendations are as follows:

· Aesthetics - urban design elements
· Amenities and facilities in the neighbourhood
· Efficient public transport system
· Safety from hazards
· Adequate water supply
· Enhancement of electric supply

Under the 10th Five Year Plan, the Ecocities project is being extended to small and medium towns in the country. The work has commenced for launching the project in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Puri (Orissa), Vapi (Gujarat), Thanjavour (Tamil Nadu), Rishikesh (Uttaranchal), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Shillong (Meghalaya), Kottayam (Kerala) and Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh).

Urban Environmental Information System

The urban environmental information system (Urb-Envis) is targeted to provide information in the form of a local environmental report to be prepared by the municipality on the status of socio-economic aspects, environment and development. The municipalities/Corporations of Indore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Agartala, Vadodara, Guntur, Agra, Kanpur, Kottayam, Delhi and Patna have been included in the Ist phase of the programme. Under the programme, a bi-annual public report will be brought out detailing the status of the environment and also the information will be placed on website, maintained and updated by respective municipalities/Corporations.