Hyderabad Set To Roll Out Land Pooling Model For Planned Urban Growth Across Metro Region

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is finalising a detailed proposal to implement a Land Pooling and Area Development (LPAD) model, The New Indian Express reported.

The initiative is aimed at unlocking landlocked parcels, ensuring orderly infrastructure delivery, and curbing the inefficiencies associated with unregulated construction.

The LPAD proposal, modelled on successful town planning schemes in Gujarat and Bhubaneswar, is envisioned as a strategic remedy to longstanding issues, chief among them, inconsistent implementation of the master plan and the ad hoc nature of infrastructure provisioning.

According to officials, the current legal framework under the HMDA Act falls short of enabling integrated and equitable urban development, especially with regard to arterial and sub-arterial road layouts.

To this end, HMDA will engage a consultancy to draft a new legislative framework, operational rules, and planning guidelines. The consultancy will also oversee the execution of a pilot project.

The idea is to plan infrastructure before development, not after it, said an official, highlighting that the reactive approach to infrastructure often proves inefficient and financially unsustainable.

The LPAD approach will focus on equitable land reconstitution, integrated service delivery, and phased release of development-ready plots.

The authority has already earmarked around 10 potential sites, each approximately 5,000 acres in size, to initiate the scheme.

As part of the first phase, HMDA will undertake a comprehensive review of existing planning statutes and guidelines in Telangana.

Two of the shortlisted sites will be taken up for pre-feasibility studies after concept reports are prepared.

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