New Towns in India

In recent times, India has seen a spurt in such planned townships and a significant number of consumers living in major urban centres are becoming interested in the idea of living in the number of planned townships that are being built away from major urban hubs and chaos. 

Making of new towns in India is not a recent phenomenon. India has the experience of this process throughout her history. The phenomenal growth of new towns in India bears the imprint of her heritage in this field of culture and civilization. Mohenjodaro and Harappa, dating back to the Indus Valley civilization, Ayodhya, Pataliputra (present Patna) and Varanasi laid out by Indo Aryans during the Vedic period, Nalanda and Taxila built to serve as University towns during the Buddhist period. Agra, Golconda and "Dacca" (Bangladesh) of mediaeval period, Fatehpur Sikri of the Moghul period, Jaipur the 'pink city built by Maharaja Jai Singh during the 18th century and Lutyen's New Delhi (1930) are some of the classic examples of new towns built to satisfy the needs and aspirations of urban community during different periods. 

The new town movement of India in the recent past is associated with the beginning of railway towns of British India. These railway towns being formed of an assortment of quarter, for railway employees, stations and other transportational facilities made a sizeable settlement with minimum possible layout and service facilities. The towns mainly designed on 'grid iron' pattern and provided community facilities like market, temples, churches, schools, playground, cinema and theatre gave the look of a new town. Kharagpur, Asansol, Tundla, Manmad and Waltair are the landmarks in this field of new towns in colonial India. 

By 1941, India had more than 30 such towns having capacity of more than 10,000 people each. Till independence development of new towns followed this pattern with a few exceptions like Jamshedpur. Development of new towns in the truest sense in India took a turn after independence. The partition of the country in 1947 resulted in influx of refugees from east and west and their rehabilitation marked the beginning of new towns in modern India. Faridabad near Delhi, Nilokheri in Punjab, Gandhidham in Gujarat and Asokenagar in West Bengal are examples of refugee township in India. 

The new towns built in the first phase lack in design aspect and differ from European and American Standards. But it should be admitted that India started making new towns at a very difficult hour. It was Pandit Jahawarlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India wished decent layout of these new townships. He invited the great designer from France, viz. Le Corbusier and gave him the task of designing Chandigarh. His architectural designs and creations became a source of inspiration to other young nations. Creation of Chandigarh was a historic moment in the contemporary annals of town planning. In fact Chandigarh was the 'flag off" stage in the race of town building in India. 

In recent times, India has seen a spurt in such planned townships and a significant number of consumers living in major urban centres are becoming interested in the idea of living in the number of planned townships that are being built away from major urban hubs and chaos. Let us have a look at some of these new towns which are redefining the way people live in our country. 

• Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai is a planned satellite township of Mumbai on the west coast of Maharashtra. Navi Mumbai covering 95 villages 
• New Town, Kolkata New Town, formerly known as Rajarhat, is a fast emerging satellite township in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and it is expected that it will be able to absorb additional population growth and help in easing the burden on Kolkata 
• Lavasa is a private, planned city being built near Pune by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC)

1) Navi Mumbai 

Navi Mumbai is a planned satellite township of Mumbai on the west coast of Maharashtra. After it was created in 1971, City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) was the only authority that looked after the development and maintenance of the city. It was CIDCO which prepared the developmental plan for Navi Mumbai covering 95 villages. In 1991, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) was constituted by the Maharashtra government for maintaining some of the developed nodes of Navi Mumbai, namely, Belapur, Nerul, Turbhe, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli, Airoli,and Vashi. 

Navi Mumbai is home to many software companies of Maharashtra, located in various parks. These include the Millennium Business Park in Mahape, the International InfoTech Park at Vashi, and the Belapur railway station complex. It is also home to major commodity markets as well as a major steel market. One of the important business landmarks is the shipping port of Jawaharlal Nehru Port in the Nhava Sheva – Dronagiri nodes. The major business hubs in the city are CBD Belapur, Vashi, Nerul, and Mahape. The Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in the nodes of Dronagiri and Kalamboli is planned to provide commercial growth and employment to the city. Positioned enroute the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport, this megaproject has attracted investments close to Rs 40,000 crores. 

2) New Town, Kolkata 

New Town, formerly known as Rajarhat, is a fast emerging satellite township in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and it is expected that it will be able to absorb additional population growth and help in easing the burden on Kolkata. The West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) plans and executes development projects in the entire 6,000 - 7,000 hectare area in New Town. In order to render the various civic services and amenities within New Town, the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) was constituted under the New Town Kolkata Development Authority Act, 2007. 

Towns master plan envisages a township at least three times bigger than the neighbouring planned Salt Lake City. The entire area is still under the process of development. As a planned township, New Town has been divided into three key areas: Action Area I, which mainly consists of malls, a sub Central Business District (CBD) and planned residential and commercial plots. Action Area II is to have a planned main CBD, institutional plots, IT Business Parks like DLF and Unitech, and plots for large apartment complexes. Action Area III mainly consists of high rise residential complexes and mini sub-townships like Uniworld City and Sukhobristi. 

3) Lavasa 

Lavasa is a private, planned city being built near Pune by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). Among the first planned hill cities of India, Lavasa is approximately 1/5th of the land area of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Located near the Mumbai-Pune economic corridor, along the Warasgaon Lake, Lavasa optimally balances nature and urban infrastructure. The master plan of Lavasa is based on the principles of New Urbanism which makes life easy for its residents by placing all essential components of daily life within walking distance of each other. Besides this, architectural considerations such as land character, building frontage, and other design guidelines have also been taken into consideration while making the master plan. 

Developments at Lavasa are well on schedule, and the Dasve town center is currently under an advanced stage development. While the Dasve Town Centre is already functional, all structures in education, hospitality, and leisure are fast-nearing completion. Mugaon, is 6 kms from Dasve and is being developed as a centre for residential, educational, business and commercial activities. This town has shops, cafes, cultural institutions, spiritual centres, schools, and colleges. 

Various green initiatives have been undertaken to provide a healthy life to the inhabitants of New Town. The NKDA is working on plans to set up a dedicated green walkway stretching several kilometers in the township for people to walk and breathe fresh air without having the trouble to avoid cars and other polluting vehicles coming their way. A master plan, which has been approved by the Centre, has also been prepared for developing New Town as a solar city. It mentions ways to reduce the projected energy demand from conventional power sources by following two strategies one is by use of solar and renewable power sources and another is by using more energy efficient devices. Already, a long stretch of the main arterial road in Action Area I has been illuminated with LED streetlights and more such lights will be installed on various roads in the township. 

Recently, West Bengals Transport Department and HIDCO came up with a plan to jointly set up a state of the art international bus terminus at New Town, the first of its kind in the state. The terminus will have cafes and rest rooms and services for inter-city, inter-state, and international bus routes will be operated from there. New Town is also witnessing a major real estate boom. This year, a 2.5 acre plot in the township fetched HIDCO a whopping Rs 57.33 crore. It amounts to Rs. 23 crore per acre. Lately, HIDCO has been reaping rich harvest by auctioning off plots in the township for commercial purposes.