Planning Bodies To Oversee Indian Metro Areas

The state government in India has approved the formation of Metropolitan Planning Committees for large metropolitan areas such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. The establishment of these planning committees is expected to increase efficiency and communication between the different actors in the development process.

" 'A notification would be issued within a fortnight and the whole process would be complete within two months,' a senior official in Mantralaya said adding 'The idea is to have a monitoring panel for an integrated development of the region and to improve coordination among all agencies involved in the local development.' "

"The formation of the MPCs would also provide more voice to local bodies in planning the development of the region. Currently, the planning is done by the district planning committees headed by the district guardian ministers and most of its members are political nominees of the ruling party of the State."