Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Chief Bats for Land Pooling

By Lynette Monteiro
Pics by John V. Tauro
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 21 July 2012: Mr. Ramesh S., Chairman, Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), made a strong pitch for the land pooling approach to urban development. He was speaking on Vision for Mangalore 2021 under the auspices of St. Aloysius College Alumni/ae Association (SACAA) at the college campus on July 20, 2012. The talk was supported by a power-point presentation by the MUDA team.

 

Explaining the land pooling concept, Mr. Ramesh said that the traditional route to secure land for development was, and is, acquisition, even compulsory, by paying compensation or granting transfer of development rights (TDR) wherein for surrendering the land, the owner gets extra development rights elsewhere or extra FSI (Floor Space Index) – both being marketable and transferable. Under the land pooling system, the person who surrenders part of his property, say for widening a lane into a road, benefits by enhanced value of his property because of better approach infrastructure to his property in the form of a wide road in the place of a narrow lane.

 

 

In this context, Mr. Ramesh referred to the ambitious Mangalore Corniche Project stretching from Nethravati bridge to Kuloor Bridge, at an estimated cost of Rs. 8,000/10,000 crores, and said that it would be constructed on Public-Private Partnership basis – also taking the land pooling route as the water-fronting properties will gain tremendously in terms enhanced property value.

 

Mr. Ramesh said that the latest Master Plan for Mangalore, stretching to 2021,  covers an area of 608 sq. Km. and includes areas beyond the city corporation limits, extending from Talapady in the south to Mulky in the north. He said that MUDA has put in place a close monitoring system to regulate orderly growth of this extended urban area. In the centre of the city itself decongestion is sought to be achieved through a multi-level car-parking/ commercial complex with parking facilities for 800/1,000 vehicles, at a cost of Rs 2.15 crores.

 

SACAA office bearers, Mr. Naveen Mascherenhas, Scretary,  welcomed and introduced the speaker, Mr. Arthur D’Souza, President, chaired the meeting, Fr Swebert D’Silva, Director, moderated the discussion and Mr. John B. Monteiro, Convener, SACAA Talks, proposed a vote of thanks.