Future plan

The Howrah redevelopment master planning project is being led locally and Mott MacDonald will be drawing on resources from around the world

A mix of social, financial and infrastructure planning is needed to turn around the fortunes of Howrah, India.

(Article taken from our customer magazine, Momentum)

Across the Hooghly River from Kolkata, India, lies Howrah, a sprawling city of 4.2 million people. Howrah was a former manufacturing centre, but has been in long term decline.

Infrastructure is old and inadequate. The town is home to some of the largest slums in Asia, with large-scale unemployment and dangerous social tensions.

In a bid to revive Howrah’s economy the Government of West Bengal has commissioned Mott MacDonald to draw up a comprehensive development plan. It wants to improve prospects and conditions for residents, and to attract investors. The project is being funded by the UK Department for International Development. The master plan will deliver a regeneration strategy covering housing, water supply and sanitation, transportation, education, health and employment. It will involve conceptual planning, development of detailed implementation strategies and stakeholder consultation. Work started in October.

Land use and ownership are key issues, project director Amit Mukherjee says. “At the moment ownership is very fragmented. Land needs to be consolidated to facilitate developments such as special economic zones and to rationalise infrastructure.”