CHENNAI: Mayor Saidai Duraisamy on Wednesday said that the tar roads laid during the DMK regime that have crumbled due to the heavy downpour in the city, would be replaced with concrete roads that would last long. Speaking at an event organised by the Department of Planning, School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), Anna University, and the Institute of Town Planners India to mark World Town Planning Day, Duraisamy said that the focus now was to repair the roads, which would later be followed by laying of concrete ones.
The Mayor also rued the fact that planning laws are framed without the inclusion of the people. “People should be included when such laws are framed. This will create awareness among the people and improve their quality of life,” he added.He also said that the plans chalked out by the authorities were more theoretical in nature and seldom implemented by the officials.
Mooting the idea of developing gardens or parks on rooftops, the Mayor also urged the planners to think out of the box by coming up with ideas on how to utilise open space. Highlighting the need to end congestion in roads, he also suggested that vehicles be sold only to those who have parking space at home. This would solve parking problems and to some extent traffic problems as well, he added.
G Dattatri, former chief urban planner of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority spoke on the need for inclusion of people in planning to make it sustainable. Abdul Razak Mohamed, professor and head, department of planning, and ITPI Chennai chapter secretary R Shivakumar said the idea of the event was to create a platform for town planning professionals, researchers and students to discuss the role of communities and government in utilisation of open spaces in cities.
Dr S Shanmugavel, registrar of Anna University, K R Tooyavan, chairman of ITPI, Monsingh D Devdas, dean of SAP, also spoke.
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