Bihar’s Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) has started looking for consultants to help them prepare a GIS-based master plan for nine more Bihar cities that have been chosen for the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project.

Three groups of cities have been formed from the nine cities with Araria, Forbesganj, and Khagaria are among the first group. The second group consists of Lakhisarai, Jamui, and Bhahua, while the third group consists of Sheohar, Sitamarhi, and Madhubani.

The master plan will aim to improve city infrastructure to meet residents' future needs as well as close gaps in existing infrastructure.

By January of next year, the department will have selected three consulting firms for three different groups of cities through a competitive bidding process. The preparation of master plans for the selected cities will begin in February and take six to nine months to complete, depending on the size of the urban area.

According to the media, the proposed master plan will be prepared to meet the corporation's development needs for the next 20 years. It will increase tax revenue collection and reduce revenue leakage. The cities' socio economic assessments will be carried out by the selected consulting firms.

A UDHD official told the media that Demographic information, household categories, population reports, educational status, land holdings and cropping patterns, topography, climate, natural resources, demography, urban-rural trend, employment, economic aspects, traffic and transportation, water supply, sanitation, health, recreational facilities, and other civic amenities would all be covered in the survey.

In the first phase, a GIS-based master plan for Patna was created. The development plan for four cities, including Chhapra, Rajgir, Begusarai, and Biharsharif, is nearing completion. Under the Centre's Amrut project, work has recently begun in 11 other cities: Buxar, Kishanganj, Katihar, Sasaram, Dehri, Motihari, Aurangabad, Hajipur, Siwan, Bettiah, and Bagaha.

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