Since a
decade back, housing demand has been increasing in India even as the central
government is carrying on a ‘Housing for all’
propaganda.
Many reports suggest that the demand for housing
will
outstrip supply by 2015 at the current rate of growth even though there is
expectation of subdued demand in the short-tomedium
term.
Making up
this demandsupply gap is going to be gargantuan task and scarcity of land
stands a major hurdle. In such a situation, horizontal
exploitation
is only going to compound the issue. And environmental degradation and
devastation of natural resources are the major concerns in the current scenario
that warrant quicker realisation and awakening of the authorities concerned.
The
country is already facing deficient rain fall in relation to growing
population, draining rivers, disappearanceof lakes and ponds and lack of
forests leading to water scarcity, global warming, etc. This does not stop
here.
The
government departments struggle to provide basic amenities and infrastructure
like drinking water facility, sewerage lines, drainage system and most
importantly, power supply and proper roads.
In
overcoming the critical situation, Integrated Townships and Gated Communities
seem to provide ultimate answer.
Integrated
Townships and Gated Communities have been in the offing for some time in the
country but these were meant only for high-end category of citizens. Many
integrated township and gated community developers emerged in the recent times
yet they are faced with restrictions.
Townships
used to develop in those days. They have been promoted by Public Sector
Enterprises (PSE) like BHEL, HAL, BARC, NLC, etc. Those places were meant for
the employees of these units, not owned residential units. But they are
outdated models now.
In recent
years, one could see many townships being developed alongside IT Parks, similar
to Magarpatta city in Pune. These kinds of development are common in cities
like Gurgaon, Pune, etc.
DLF,
Unitech and many others are coming up with such communities in areas like
Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. They may not be
full-fledged
in the sense that they may lack in a few facilities. The units located at these
places may be catering to high-end segment.
Current
trends only call for fully equipped and self-contained townships that too at
affordable prices. But many such developers do not fall in that category. There
are a few like the Trichy based Malar Properties Private Ltd who provide in
their maiden project
A to Z of
all amenities without asking.
A day
will come when all the citizens may opt for such a
living
opportunity. Or there may be no other option but to settle
for such
a living style.
State of
property development
The
property developers segment has grown over the years and has transformed itself
into corporate structure but yet to evolve fully into an organised sector. And
given the still rudimentary form of government
regulations,
probably due to hesitant or lethargic if harshly put, the property development
is still unorganised.
Apartment
culture started catching up beyond metros only in the last few years and high
rise buildings are recent phenomena in the cities other than Mumbai and Delhi.
This is due to the rigid government norms.
The
developers are facing with space constraint. It is also not possible to overly
exploit the land which is already being utilized beyond proportion in
industrialization and commercial activities. Reclamation of wasteful or
mismanaged land should provide additional leverage to development.
A serious
malady
Nobody
seems to realize the need for uniformity in the real estate development. The
dangerous virus, Racism, did not stop with human race but has been
topographically, devastating the cities recklessly. Equality should not be
restricted to only human but also to the places he lives in.
Here,
individual aspirations should be focussed towards society. But representatives
of the voting public concentrate on fulfilling petty desires of the individuals
rather than on mega projects without any compromise.
Moreover,
many of them lack political will and sincerity to be
able to
execute huge projects and carry the idea to their own people.
While
township projects may raise undue apprehensions within many people, it all
remains in the hands of the governments to promote
these
projects given the many advantages they provide.
A step
from the government
The
central government and the states should come out with a dynamic system for
real estate development that does not deform basic agrarian character of the
country. The only solution
is to
formulate specification that allows only integrated townships with relaxed
stipulation on the density and FSI norms.
In fact,
the government housing development agencies should
also
engage themselves in joint ventures with private players.
Additionally,
the government should be stringent in permitting cultivable lands for the
purpose. They should completely stop allowing construction activities in the
cultivable lands, however long they might have been lying idle. They may,
instead, insist on developing living zones of the rural areas.
By doing
so, the villagers will also get to enjoy the facilities that the so called
urbanites do. Sometime back, I happened
to travel
across rural area abetting Trichy and Pudukkottai. It was a pleasing trip for
me as I could enjoy nature and inhale pure air from its breeze. I also happened
to visit a township of Trichy based Malar Properties Private Ltd. It was well
planned and beautifully developed. This idea should be the ultimate model
for
future townships.
By giving
special status to some of the cities, they have been developed beyond
proportion and beyond their bearing capacity. Specifically, metros - Mumbai,
Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad - have been overburdened with
burgeoning population that have been migrating from smaller cities in search of
job opportunities.
Only
solution to the issue is encouraging integrated townships
and gated
communities. The government should support the
developers
of such projects by all means.
A conducive
formula is the need of the hour
A
situation is already emerging in favor of townships given the troubles faced in
relation to organising maintenance activities. It is the job of all the players
involved to tap the opportunities lying ahead and
work towards
creating a modern India that should be a role model to other independent states
all over the world.
The
government should moot the idea of converting living areas of all the villages
into townships or gated communities.
Towards
this end, it should create awareness among
the
public about these models through various communication
techniques
and campaign formulae. The promoters should
think of
regeneration and recycling of all used wastes and energies while the
governments will have the responsibility of generation and distribution of
water, electricity and other key attributes. Over a period,
exploitation
of ground water resources will be at the hands of the government while
townships and gated community will support electricity generation through
non-conventional techniques and
renewable
energy resources.
Simultaneously,
both the parties can engage themselves
in
creating ponds and lakes in or near these townships and
communities,
apart from forests in the surrounding vacant areas.
This
would help recycling water particles and reproduce rains.
This
process is said to have exponential impact on reviving nature.
Advantages
are multifold
As a
result of creating all villages as townships, the
advantages
to the population and the governments as a whole
are
multifold. First and most important of all, the parity between villages and
cities that exist now vanishes as the
townships can instantly get all the amenities that the cities are now
privileged to have.
Again,
this kind of development can ease the
pressure
on the cities and metros that are already overburdened.
Cost of
installation and implementation of newer services
and
technologies reduces. When installing new townships, the
government
may put forth stipulations such as optimum capacity for a city in terms of
residential units, pipeline for water and gas, power grids, etc.
The
governments can also concentrate on its routines with
ease as
most of the services they now offer to their citizens
individually
will be taken care of by the townships. And the
states
can look at improving its efficiency at the macro level.
Above
all, more land will be available and even wasted
land can
be reclaimed. These may be properly and usefully
distributed
for cultivation, commercial or industrial
purposes.
Ultimately, the country can take a big leap towards self
sufficiency
that we struggle to achieve despite long years of
planning
and implementation.
It can be
assured that concerted efforts towards townships will
make
dreams come true.
Contact..!
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