Master plan sees Mullanpur as Punjab’s first ‘eco-town’

In the Master Plan submitted to the Punjab government, experts from Jurong Consultants Private Limited of Singapore have proposed Mullanpur as a low-density country-living resort centre — the northern gateway to Greater Mohali.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who also holds the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development Ministry, gave his nod to the master plan late on Friday evening, following which Chief Town Planner Rajinder Sharma has invited objections from the general public on the proposal within a month.

“All public objections will be examined and those found appropriate will be considered before notifying the Master Plan,” Sharma told Newsline.

He said the master plan had been adopted as such without any change or modification either by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) or the Town and Country Planning department, the planning agency under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995.

“The Mullanpur Master Plan was urgently required. In the absence of any draft master plan of the area, no change of land use or permission for any new project could be granted,” said GMADA Chief Administrator Vivek Partap Singh.

With top politicians and bureaucrats having stakes on major chunks of land under Mullanpur, the master plan will require all existing structures to conform to the future planning criteria.

While the maximum of 33 per cent of the total 6,109 hectares have been locked under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), prohibiting any change of land use or development, 24.4 per cent land has been proposed for residential use.

Of the left-out 42.6 per cent, 9.3 per cent has been proposed for agriculture use, 6.9 per cent for villages, 3.5 per cent for institutional use, 3.4 per cent for mixed-use development, 2.5 per cent for industrial use (knowledge village), 2.3 per cent as restricted, 0.2 per cent for transport hub and 14.5 per cent for other purposes like water bodies, roads and built-up area.

The 33 per cent PLPA land will be used as green spaces, open spaces, recreational purposes and parks.

Mullanpur as an “eco-town” is envisioned to rise as a distinctive and sustainable playground of the Greater Mohali region. The existing rivers and their surrounding waterfronts will be enhanced to become prime physical assets of Mullanpur.

The master plan has proposed a population of 2 lakh in Mullanpur till 2031 and 3.5 lakh by 2056, with a gross residential density of 100 persons per acre.