Three consultancy firms have thrown their hat in the bid to prepare the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2041, which frames guidelines for the city’s future development, including zonal regulations.
The responsibility of leading the exercise has been given to Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), despite questions over its ability as a planning agency.
Of the three firms, Hyderabad-based Lea Associates South Asia Pvt Ltd and Delhi-based Rudrabhishek Enterprises Ltd have cleared the technical rounds. The BDA has disqualified one of the three bidders for not having adequate experience in the field.
In December last year, the BDA had floated tenders for the selection of consultants to prepare the RMP-2041 for the Bengaluru Local Planning Area spread over 1,314 square kilometres. Tenders floated after the BDA’s proposal to rope in Netherlands-based Royal Haskoning DHV, which had prepared the now-scrapped Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2031, was rejected by the state government.
Bengaluru currently follows an outdated land-use document that expired in 2015. The fresh exercise of preparing Master Plan-2041 is likely to take a minimum of two or three years.
Town planning experts say the long gap between two land-use documents is bound to result in uncontrolled development activity, particularly in the peripheral areas. The immediate repercussions are the narrow roads in dense areas.
As per the tender document, the RMP-2041 is expected to comprise seven columns. While the initial chapters analyse the implementation of the existing master plan, the later volumes feature a bouquet of surveys on ecology, hydrology, land capacity analysis, heritage and culture, among others. Land use forecasting is another major component of the report.