Kerala Town & Country Planning Act:

The state government is all set to amend the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act (KTCPA), 2016 to address the growing effect of urbanization and to encourage mixed climate changeable master plans. To look into the revision of KTCPA, 2016 and the guidelines for expenditure, planning, and budgeting, an 8-member state level committee with the additional chief secretary, local self-government department (LSGD) as the chairman has been set.

The Town and Country Planning Act is being reviewed keeping in mind the terms anticipated in the 73rd and 74th constitutional bills. The initiative will study the need to evaluate actions to better conditions and infrastructure in shape up with the current rate of urbanization and urban renewal agendas driven by high economic growth.

The Department of Town & Country Planning officials (Thiruvananthapuram) stated that the revision of the Act intents toward addressing irregularities in the existing system which were shown during the 2018 floods. As per the order issued by LSGD, the floods have made in focus the need for better planning of urban areas in order to experience and face the result of unexpected high-intensity floods and natural disasters.

The committee will finalize the draft Town and Country Planning Act started with an institutional structure for development and implementation of master plans flexible with climate changes and quick to recover from natural disasters. It will also improve existing laws for investments by local bodies to adhere to the revised master plans, including corrective plans for non-compliance. The committee will conclude and submit the draft TCP act and guidelines together with the draft action plan by December 2019.

To assist the main committee in making of revised Town and Country Planning Act, a 12-member sub-working committee has also been formed. It will also help with required changes to the planning, budgeting and expenditure guidelines of local bodies. The sub-working committee will be assisted by urban planners and experts in decentralization. The committee will submit its suggestions to the high-level authorized committee by July 31, 2019.

It is often seen that the planning rules allocate sectoral funds to local bodies, the allotments often get split up in small scale infrastructure plans heading to ineffective fund usage in larger investments affecting public service deliveries.

The flood damage report of buildings and villages/towns according to post-disaster demand analysis report had pointed out that many buildings in the flood-prone areas were either damaged or they collapsed because they were built without sufficient disaster-resistant features such as plinth and lintel bands, as suggested in the NBC (National building code).