Development body struggles to create order out of chaos

BADDI BLUES PART-III

The five-month old Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority is facing an uphill task in undoing the damage caused by the haphazard industrial growth of the last five years.

The authority has given priority to curbing further un-planned growth and providing roads and waste management facilities to the industrial units spread over 150 square km. It has appointed ICRA Management Consultancy Services and the Centre for Environment Planning and Technology to prepare a master plan for the region.

"A formal agreement designating ICRA as our advisors will be signed this month. They will be given six months to submit the master plan. With the project implementation will come the complete segregation of land use and a broader road network. We will invite private players to develop the area," said Amandeep Garg, CEO of the development authority.

"The authority has a mixed role of a regulator, planner and developer. It will have to minimise the damages caused by unplanned development, come out with an organised expansion plan and also develop the township to accommodate more industrial units," Garg said.

The Himachal Pradesh government (and the stakeholder industries) had wanted the body to be modelled on the lines of the highly successful New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) of Uttar Pradesh. However, both the agencies are fundamentally different.

While Noida had the privilege to develop large tracts of agricultural land into a planned industrial zone, the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority will have to struggle to bring order to the chaotic development that has taken place.

"Though the situation is not the same as of Noida, we intend to do our best. We have identified 50-60 acres to be developed as a transport hub. Similarly, we have already earmarked land for setting up a common effluent treatment plant and a solid waste management facility. The state government has sanctioned Rs 21 crore for 2007-08 for the development of the township. Development works are already on using the Rs 27 crore sanctioned for 2006-07. We have also instructed the industries department to issue fresh licences only on the basis of no-objection certificates issued by us," Garg said.

Easier said than done, say industry sources. "The authority should have powers to take penal action against defaulters. In its present form, it can only request other agencies to take actions...The authority should be given more powers," said Arun Rawat, general secretary, Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association.

Garg, however, has long-term development plans. "The Baddi township is about 150 square km today. We want to double this area in 20 years. The authority will make sure that the future growth of the township is in a planned way," he said.

The master plan would spell out specific development plans for this additional area. The authority will make sure that the future growth of the township is in a planned way," he said.