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Will Be Ultimate Taraka Mantra: TOWNSHIPS, GATED COMMUNITIES INEVITABLE

An Article from Our Building & Construction, Chennai..!


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 But they are outdated models now.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..!

B & C PUBLICATIONS
Admin Office : Block No. 2, Door No. 431, Mogappair East,
(Behind J.J. Nagar Police Station), Chennai - 600 037. Tamilnadu, India Ph: +91-44-6454 3377
E-mail: info@buildingandconstruction.org
www.buildingandconstruction.org
www.buildingandconstruction.org

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