Bhubaneswar, Nov. 13: Those who have houses along main streets across the city will be allowed to commercially develop their residential areas while getting building plans approved.
Keeping the ever-growing population in mind, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority has decided on this to facilitate commercial activities by individual house owners on their premises.
Be it along the City Women's College-Gandamunda stretch, Kalinga Hospital to Sainik School or the one between the Sai temple and the Kuakhai river bridge, commercial establishments have come up in large numbers on residential plots as many house owners have started renting out their premises for opening shops and even restaurants.
Sources said the stretch from Utkal University Square to Sishu Bhavan Square would gradually be transformed into a high-density region with more high-rises and efficient public transport system passing through it. The same development model will later be replicated in areas such as Gothapatna and Chandrasekharpur.
Planning member of the development authority Sudhiranjan Mohanty told The Telegraph: "The authority is trying to allow commercial development along the new major roads, so that it could give scope to business development and entrepreneurship."
He said that while applicants would have to pay extra money for availing themselves of the commercial facilities, there could be extra income for the civic body which would collect parking fees from vehicles apart from holding tax at commercial rates.
Two years ago, the authority had relaxed the building regulations along Janpath for helping vertical growth and that of a bus rapid transport system. The smart city project has also taken up the development of the Bhubaneswar Town Centre consisting of 670 acres for the transit-oriented development.
"In the transit-oriented development, people are provided with all amenities within a 5-km radius, so that they can use their cycles or just walk down to their destinations. According to the proposal, the town centre near the station will have 20-storey structures to house residential flats, hotels, market complexes, malls and entertainment facilities," said Mohanty.
The transit-oriented development promoting cycle path and walking lanes will be promoted in the city for better environment.
Nayapalli resident Bijay Mishra said: "We are seeing an ever-expanding city and, therefore, new major roads, including the partly-operational NH-203 from Pandra to the Daya bridge, is now full of commercial establishments on both its sides."
Mishra said the commercial establishments are causing not only traffic problem, but also solid waste disposal environment related issues.
Soubhagya Nagar Phase II resident Mrutyunjay Tripathy said: "A stretch of 2.2km was built between the City Women's College and Gandamunda to be developed as a major road after the closure of the airport-agriculture university road at the old runway end. But, the houses adjoining the road have been converted into major commercial establishments."
