Big commercial projects will be approved after studying impact on traffic movement

Dehradun, 10 Aug: The Dhami Government is mulling on bringing some changes regarding approval of big commercial projects. Sources have claimed that now before building any big residential or commercial project in the cities, its impact on traffic will be seen. The housing department is preparing to implement the new system. As per the plan, the map of that project will be passed by the authorities only on the basis of the traffic impact assessment report. If the report suggests major adverse impact, the map will not be passed.

This decision is being considered in the wake of rapid commercialisation of the large cities like Dehradun. The Housing Department is aware that big malls and residential projects are being built rapidly in the cities. Due to these projects, traffic woes arise at many places. It is also a fact that new projects are being submitted for approval in areas which already have big malls and multistorey residential projects and approval of more such projects on these roads or areas may further worsen the traffic pressure and woes there. In places like Dehradun, private schools including large private schools in prime locations of the city far outnumber the government schools and have very large number of students. In such a situation, the common people may have to face further problems in case of new commercial projects in those areas or roads.

In view of the situation that prevails, the housing department is mulling on restricting large scale projects in these sensitive areas. Before submitting the map of any residential or commercial project, now the builder will have to first get the traffic assessment done. The builder will tell in his report that what is the traffic pressure at the place where the project is proposed. The builders will also need to disclose what is the width of the road there and how is the movement of vehicles per day or per hour in comparison to that. In case there is no school, hospital or other public place nearby, already affecting the traffic movement, the project will get easy clearance. The decision to pass the map will be taken on the basis of this traffic impact report. Deliberations are going on to implement these changes at the government level. The Housing department officials said that it will soon be submitted before the cabinet for approval.