Experts flag anomalies in draft Kurali master plan

The Punjab chapter of the Institute of Town Planners, landowners and other stakeholders have flagged multiple anomalies in the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority’s (GMADA) recently notified draft master plan for Kurali, comprising 78 villages.

They have flagged the lack of proper surveys, zoning anomalies and procedural violations. Questioning the very foundation of the draft plan, Gurpreet Singh, a former Chief Town Planner (CTP), said one of the major anomalies was a huge gap in residential continuity between the proposed master plans for Kurali and Gharaun.

Despite numerous already constructed or approved residential and commercial projects along the National Highway 21, the draft plan designates large parts of the area as agriculture zone, creating artificial discontinuities.

“Though the effort was to bring the Kurali Municipal Council and adjoining villages under a comprehensive planning framework amid growing development pressure in the Kharar-Kurali corridor, no socio-economic survey appears to have been conducted to assess the actual requirement of urbanisable area for the next 20 years,” he said adding that data on population growth trends was required.

Sources in the government said the land being brought under the master plan area, adjoining the New Chandigarh planning area, was done to benefit influential landowners.

‘Bharatmala project ignored’

HS Bhogal, a former Chief Town Planner, sought to know whether any traffic and transport studies, including a traffic operational plan (TOP), were carried out.

He said the Bharatmala project — described as the “nerve line” of the regional highway network —did not appear to have been factored in while preparing the plan.

It has further been pointed out that while prime commercial highway frontage is being pushed into restrictive green or recreational zones, actual green pockets reserved under the legally notified GMADA Regional Plan have been converted into residential zones in the new draft.

The primary bone of contention remains the highly erratic zoning proposed along major economic corridors. According to sources, the consultant has failed to earmark any mixed land use areas along key high-potential routes, including the Kharar-Kurali National Highway and the Kurali bypass — a move that stands in stark contradiction to standard master plans implemented across Punjab.

Town planning observers state that under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development (PRTPD) Act, 1995, a master plan cannot supersede or violate a higher-tier notified regional plan without explicit, legally backed environmental justifications.