Ghaziabad: A survey has been initiated to prepare a zonal plan for the transit-oriented development (TOD) zones along the corridor of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), and it’s being coordinated by the Ghaziabad Development Authority and officials of the NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) that is developing the RRTS project, officials said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the GDA and the NCRTC officials following a meeting decided that all help will be extended for smooth preparation of the plan.
Officials said that the zonal plan is being prepared by an NCRTC hired consultant.
GDA media coordinator Rudresh Shukla said that the NCRTC has been tasked to prepare a zonal plan for the TOD zones along the RRTS corridors. “The survey for the zonal plan has been initiated, and GDA will provide all help to ensure that the consultant gets access to all details including that of the Master Plan.”
The RRTS project spans 82km to link three cities: Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut with the Namo Bharat trains. Of the 24 stations, Ghaziabad has eight fully functional RRTS stations.
The eight RRTS stations in Ghaziabad are at Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Duhai Depot, Muradnagar, Modinagar (south), and Modinagar (north)
GDA officials said the TOD zones have been defined as an influence zone area within a 1.5km radius from the existing RRTS stations in Ghaziabad.
The TOD zones along eight RRTS stations have been defined according to the state government’s TOD policy and also made part of the draft Master Plan 2031 by GDA.
Puneet Vats, chief public relation officer of NCRTC, said: “The process for preparation of the zonal plan has been initiated, and it is expected to get complete within a year.”
The Uttar Pradesh government’s TOD policy, notified in 2022, has defined TOD zones, or mixed land use zones, for the development of residential, commercial, and other types of construction.
“The zonal plan for the TOD zones will also include two special development areas (SDA) which are proposed near the RRTS corridor,” Shukla added.
According to officials, one of the SDAs is about 510.56 hectares and proposed in Guldhar, while the other is about 549.5 hectares in Duhai. These two areas will also have provisions for a higher floor area ratio and mixed land use like the influence zones.
The zonal plans are subordinate plans attached to a master plan. While the master plan focuses on the macro-level plan for a city, the zonal plans focus on specific micro details of land usages, infrastructure facilities, and development within a zone.