Nagpur: Gadchiroli, which was long defined by its left-wing extremism (LWE) and development deficit, has now got another boost for planned and modern development, with the state govt declaring the district a separate “region” and setting up a Gadchiroli Regional Planning Authority (GRPA) to steer its land use and infrastructure.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also guardian minister of Gadchiroli, pushed the idea of having a separate regional plan to align the district’s future growth with the now increased economic activity after the wipeout of LWE. Rising industrial activity is set to draw more residential and commercial pockets, public and semi-public facilities, and a wider network of roads and bypasses to the district in the coming years, making a scientific, long-term land-use plan necessary.What necessitated the separate Gadchiroli roadmap was its dependence on an older development framework which had become almost irrelevant. The new authority replaces the decades-old Chandrapur-Ballarpur regional plan, which continued to govern Gadchiroli even after the district was carved out of Chandrapur in Aug 1982.The Chandrapur-Ballarpur region was declared in May 1979, and its planning board was set up in March 1981. Its regional plan was sanctioned in Nov 1991 and came into force from Feb 1992, and Gadchiroli remained under this outdated plan even after the split, through three decades of change on the ground.The old plan also had errors in land mapping. Many areas shown as forest land under the old plan were actually under private and agricultural use, hindering changes that needed alignment with new economic activity.Officials say CM Fadnavis understood that Gadchiroli’s expanding industrial growth needed coordinated planning for housing, commerce, public amenities, roads and other infrastructure. “The new planning authority will allow a study of the district’s actual ground situation to arrive at a more coordinated and planned land use and development framework,” said district collector Avishyant Panda, who will head the new authority.The authority will also identify growth centres under the new plan to push development tehsil by tehsil, spreading the benefits of Gadchiroli’s industrial rise beyond the district headquarters.GRPA also includes representatives of Town Planning Department, Gadchiroli Zilla Parishad and municipal council presidents, superintending engineer of Public Works Department, regional officer of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, general manager of district industries centre, and experts in town planning.MLC Abhijit Wanjarri and Gadchiroli MLA Dr Milind Narote are also members. Assistant director of town planning, Gadchiroli, will be the authority’s secretary. Its office will function from the town planning branch at the district administration building near the collectorate.
