BDA makes 1000-acre infra plan for fringes

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has announced it will prepare a master plan for a 1000-acre government plot in the city soon, fuelling speculation in the real estate market.
BDA planning member Pitabasa Sahoo published a request for proposal (RFP) for selection of a consultant to prepare the plan. Though BDA has not specified the area in the RFP, a senior BDA officer said the land spreads over Gothapatna, Shampur, Andharua, Chandaka and Daspur villages on the outskirts of the city, an emerging hub of real estate activities.
The officer said the BDA move aims at preventing encroachment and foster systematic growth in the upcoming locality. The general administration department had asked BDA to prepare the plan defining land use pattern so that new projects can be planned, he said.
BDA will select the consulting agency for preparation of the detailed master plan and layout following provisions of the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 2010. It will include a broad circulation plan, road network, and housing including that for economically weaker sections, provision of quality physical and social infrastructure, the RFP said.
The authority would hold a pre-bid meeting for the prospective bidders on November 10.
The area is already the location for many big ticket government projects such the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, International Institute of Information Technology, ESI Medical College and private projects such as the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital.
The government is planning to house more such projects in the area. Coinciding with the BDA move, Odisha Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) on Monday asked the revenue department to alienate 177 acres of forest land and 80 acres of non-forest land at Gothapatna. "The land is required by us immediately for infrastructure development," Idco wrote to the Bhubaneswar tehsildar.
BDA is coming with a housing project on 20 acres at Gothapatna while several private residential projects too are lined up there. "The targeted development plan will definitely help spur planned real estate growth there," said D S Tripathy, joint secretary of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India.
The area, with a well-connected land bank, is strategically located between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. A second bridge on Mahanadi is under construction near Trishulia Chowk close to this region, making it the future hub of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar urban complex.
The proposed Ring Road of the state capital will touch a major part of it while the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar rail-based mass rapid transit system (MRTS) will also pass through it.