Jaipur: About three months ago, residents of a large residential complex on Ajmer Road faced a major challenge. All efforts of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) to clean the sewerage tank inside the complex went in vain. Since the location of the complex was outside Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction, RWA members could not convince the civic body to clean the tank. The local panchayat and the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) informed them that they don’t provide services to households.In Jaipur’s peripheral colonies and residential projects, residents routinely struggle for basic civic amenities. Urban planning experts said the proposed expansion of Jaipur Development Authority’s jurisdiction under Master Plan 2047 could deepen these difficulties by encouraging low-density growth in far-flung areas without matching infrastructure.The concern increased after Rajasthan High Court Wednesday stayed the proposed expansion of JDA limits.Experts say that even in areas already approved by JDA, sparse habitation and weak service delivery have left many residents dependent on private arrangements for essentials such as sewerage, roads, and sanitation.“JDA has already announced to double its jurisdiction to 6,500 sq km under the Master Plan 2047, which will be implemented in 2027. At present, JDA’s jurisdiction covers an area of only 2,940 sq km. Such a vast expansion with a huge urbanaisable area of 3,500 sq km means colonies and projects in remote locations will increase, thereby increasing the problems of residents there,” stated a town planner.Some planners pointed out that an area of nearly 6,500 sq km would make Jaipur’s planned spread almost five times the size of Bengaluru, while the projected population for this area is only 80 lakh, less than half of Bengaluru’s. They said this mismatch indicates a pattern of urban sprawl rather than compact and efficient growth. “Therefore, the resulting development would not only be very scattered but substandard,” said another town planner.Officials said the Rajasthan Township Policy 2024 commits to phase-wise development based on eight criteria, including infrastructure availability and public transport feasibility—but critically adds that “guidelines for phased development will be issued separately”. More than a year since the state cabinet approved the policy, not a single urban local body or development authority in Rajasthan has constituted the required committee or notified a phased development zone. “JDA has extended the jurisdiction to increase its land banks by ‘hijacking’ agricultural land and to increase the rate of properties to facilitate builders. Projects in these urbanisable areas would remain underdeveloped with no basic infrastructure,” stated another town planner.
