Schemes/ Projects Implemnted by the Department / Office
Department of Housing & urban Affairs, Assam
There are four wings under the Department of Housing & Urban Affairs - Directorate of Municipal Administration, Directorate of Town & Country Planning, Assam Urban Water & Sewerage Board and Assam State Housing Board. These departments look after the affairs of urban local bodies of the state other than Guwahati Municipal Corporation.
The prime function of this Directorate of Town & Country Planning is to prepare Master Plan for Urban areas under Town & Country Planning Act, 1959 (as amended).
Master Plan is a legal document for the development of Urban Areas prepared to a specific time period. The validity of Master Plan is for a specific period and after expiry of the period it needs revision and modification. In accordance with provision of Assam Town & Country Planning Act, 1959 (as amended), Development Authorities are constituted by the Assam Government. The main function of the Development Authorities is to enforcement of proposed Master Plan and implementation of Zoning Regulations and to take up development works.
Organization Structure
- Administrative Department is headed by the Principal Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Housing & Urban Affairs Department.
- The Directorate of Town & Country Planning, Assam is headed by the Director of Town & Country Planning, Assam..
- District Offices of Town & Country Planning are headed by The Deputy Director, Town & Country Planning of any District.
- Implementation Mechanism:
Under the Department of Housing & Urban Affairs (H&UA), most of the schemes are implemented by the Local Bodies (Town Committees or Municipal Boards), Development Authorities and T&CP's Drainage Divisions (Guwahati &Tinsukia) and are facilitated and monitored by the Directorate of Town & Country Planning, Assam, through its District Offices.
- District Planning Offices: The Districts are administered by district level offices in 22 districts out of the present 33 district of the state. District offices of Town & Country Planning at Hailakandi, Morigaon, Tinsukia etc. are yet to be created under this Directorate. Besides, there are two Drainage & Sewerage Divisions at Guwahati and Tinsukia headed by the Executive Engineer. The District level offices are headed by Deputy Director in 17 district offices and Assistant Director in 5 district offices. Presently new offices at Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa under BTC are looked after by the concerned District Offices of Kokrajhar, Darrang and Nalbari.
- Development Authorities: There are 24 Development Authorities in the 24 masterplan areas created for implementation of Master Plan and other schemes.
Master Plan
The first real effort in order to ensure planned development in Assam started in the year 1955 and subsequently the state enacted its own Town & Country Planning Act in 1959 for preparation of Master Plan/Development Plan etc.
The prime function of this Directorate is to prepare Master Plan for Urban Areas under The Assam Town & Country Planning Act 1959 (as amended). Master Plan is a legal document for the development of urban area prepared to a specific time period. The validity of a Master Plan is for a specific period of 20-25 years and after expiry of the period it needs revision and modifications.
During 11th Five Year Plan it was proposed to prepare Master Plan for priority towns and growth centers covering about 33 Urban Centers. So far this Directorate has prepared 40 Nos. of Master Plans including both Final and Draft. Moreover, at present 45 Nos. Draft Master Plans are under preparation by District Offices of Town & Country Planning. The Directorate of Town & Country Planning has been taken up initiative for preparation of 25 Master Plan by using GIS based modern technology.
The District Offices of Town & Country Planning, Nagaon has taken initiative to prepare Master Plan for Nagaon, Kampur, Raha, Dhing, Doboka, Lanka, Hojai and Lamding. The GIS based revised Master Plan for Nagaon, 2045 is prepared under AMRUT and is in the process of approval by the Govt. The Draft Master Plan for Kampur is submitted recently to the Govt. for approval.
Implementation of Master Plan : In accordance with provision of Assam Town & Country Planning Act 1959 (as amended) Development Authorities are constituted by the Govt. So far State Govt. has constituted 24 Development Authorities for implementation of Master Plan proposals and organized development in the Master Plan areas. After amendment of Municipal Act, the area for implementation of Master Plan by Development Authorities has been drastically reduced as the Master Plan have been implemented by the concerned Urban Local Bodies in their respective areas.
- Latest Reports of Schemes / Projects :
The various schemes implemented by this District Offices are City Infra Development Scheme (CIDF), Preparation & implementation of Master Plan provision in terms of issue of NOC for Construction permission and Land Sale as per Zoning provision of Master Plan. Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), Infrastructure projects under 10% allocation of Central Pool Fund for North Eastern Region, North Eastern Council Schemes (NEC), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojona –Urban etc etc.
City Infra Development Fund (CIDF):
The Govt of Assam have launched new scheme - "City Infra Development Fund (CIDF)" for development of Seventeen major towns of Assam by improving the urban infrastructure to ensure balance regional growth under State Own Priority Development (SOPD). Out of this, during 2017-18 six major towns namely Silchar, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Nagaon and Tezpur whose population is more than one lakhs. Another 8 towns have been covered during 2018-19 under this scheme with the population above 40000 for the towns namely Bongaigaon, Dhubri, North Lakhimpur, Karimganj, Goalpara, Sivasagar, Barpeta and Golaghat. During 2019-20, another three towns namely Diphu, Kokrajhar and Haflong have been proposed to be covered under this scheme.
The sailent feature of the schemes is to develop the projects like river front, Public Parks, Landmark roads, Marriage hall, District Libraries, District Stadiums etc. to provide benefit to a large section of people.
The Govt of Assam will provide an amount of Rs. 200.00 crores to the cities of more than one lakhs population within four years and an amount of Rs. 100.00 crores to the cities of more than 40000 population within three years.
Accordingly, the Govt in Urban Development Department has initiated for implementation of this scheme in fourteen towns by approving the project submitted by the concerned Deputy Commissioner of the District as per guideline under CIDF. The implementation process for urban infrastructure development for the selected towns are progressing at a good pace.
Under this CIDF scheme an allocation 200 Cr has been earmarked for Nagaon Town. Accordingly 28 Nos of Schemes has been Selected as per CIDF Guideline at District Level and are in various stages of implementation. Such as Clock Tower, Market, Liabrary, Auditorium, River front Development, Widening of Road, Bus Stand, Walking Zone, Automatic Traffic Signaling etc etc.
