GNDU to have centre for urban planning under AMRUT

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, has selected Guru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, as “AMRUT-funded Centre of Urban Planning for Capacity Building”.

Only six institutes from across India have been selected and Guru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, is one of them. The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is a programme launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to improve the quality of life for citizens.

The programme aims to provide basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage and parks. AMRUT 2.0, the extension of the original mission, was launched on October 1, 2021, and is expected to run until 2025-26. Dr Ashwani Luthra, head, Guru Ramdas School of Planning, said that the school has been established in 1972 and is one of the oldest departments of the university. “A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Guru Nanak Dev University and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recently. The Centre of Urban Planning for Capacity Building has the primary objective to augment capacity-building of state or local authorities and hand-hold them in the training of latest technologies used in urban planning and development, as well as impart subject-specific training to municipal and town/country planning officials. The centre will also conduct research on ‘cities’ as part of urban planning reforms and identify needs and challenges, undertake research and provide solutions with respect to concerns such as storm water drainage, urban floods, unsafe streets, parking, retrofitting of marketplaces etc,” said Dr Luthra.