NAGPUR: The process of preparing Nagpur‘s long-pending development plan (DP) hit another hurdle, with the Existing Land Use (ELU) survey still incomplete in more than half of the areas brought under the expanded municipal limits. Of the 57 mauzas included in the exercise, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation‘s town planning department has so far completed ELUs for only 25 mauzas, leaving 32 still pending, even months after the earlier deadline expired.
According to civic officials, the delay is partly linked to the process of obtaining and reconciling land-use details from the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), which prepared the city’s earlier development plan. Sources in the NMC said the transfer and verification of records related to land reservations and existing land use from NIT slowed the preparation of updated ELU maps.
The revised development plan assumes greater urgency as it is governed by statutory timelines under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966. The revised DP, mandated under sections 23(1), 34 and 38 of the Act, must be finalised within six months of its notification, setting December 13, 2025 as the deadline for the NMC to publish the city’s final growth blueprint. earlier reported that, given the civic body’s track record, doubts are already being raised about its ability to meet the deadline and ensure actual implementation of the plan.
During a review meeting held on Sunday, newly appointed municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar took stock of the situation and directed the town planning department to complete the ELU survey of the remaining 32 mauzas by May 31 this year. The ELU exercise was originally scheduled to be completed by December 13 last year, but the target was missed due to administrative and technical hurdles.
The NMC expanded the scope of the development plan to cover more than 22,700 hectares, incorporating merged areas such as Narsala and Hudkeshwar, and bringing a total of 57 mauzas within the planning framework. However, the plan still remains incomplete as several parts of East Nagpur – including Bharatwada, Punapur, Pardi and Bhandewadi – remain outside the effective planning framework due to overlapping jurisdictions of agencies such as the Smart City project, Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and MahaMetro.
To speed up the process, Itankar issued a set of administrative directions to the town planning department. He instructed officials to create a dedicated cell for handling Slum Transferable Development Rights and other TDR cases, which often require specialised scrutiny and tend to delay approvals.
The commissioner also directed the department to fill vacant posts at the earliest and explore the possibility of engaging retired personnel with relevant experience wherever technical expertise is required. In addition, he asked officials to redistribute workload among different planning authorities to ensure faster disposal of files and quicker completion of ELU work.
Itankar also reviewed the department’s financial performance and directed officials to ensure that the annual revenue target of Rs427 crore from town planning activities is achieved during the current financial year.
The urgency around completing the ELU exercise also reflects the city’s long history of stalled planning. The last development plan, drafted in 2000 by NIT, earmarked 896 reservations for civic amenities including parks, schools, roads, cultural centres and overhead water tanks. More than two decades later, only 92 reservations – mostly road-widening projects – were executed, while 804 reservations still remain pending on paper.
