The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) announced that it has resolved the objections raised by residents regarding the Uttar Pradesh government's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Policy, 2022, clearing the way for its implementation next month.

"We received seven objections related to the TOD policy. Now that these issues have been resolved and the GDA Board has given its approval, the policy is likely to be implemented within a month," stated Rakesh Kumar Singh, Secretary , GDA.

Earlier this month, the GDA Board adopted the TOD policy, requiring public feedback before its final implementation. Introduced by the government in 2022, the TOD policy focuses on areas near mass transit projects, where higher Floor Area Ratios (FAR) allow development authorities to generate more revenue. Land costs in these zones are also expected to rise due to the surrounding development.

For mass transit projects like Rapid Rail, TOD zones extend within a 1.5 km radius on both sides of the corridor. For intra-city transit projects like metro, neo-metro, metro lite, and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), the TOD zone radius is 500 meters along the route.

In Ghaziabad, TOD zones will be established along the 42 km Rapid Rail stretch from Sahibabad to Modinagar North, as well as the Blue and Red lines of the Delhi Metro. The Red Line spans 9.3 km within the city, while the Blue Line covers 2.6 km in Ghaziabad.

Ajay Singh, GDA's chief architect and town planner, explained the authority's plan to use the TOD policy to increase revenue. "The FAR along TOD zones will be increased from the existing 1.5 to up to 5. Areas along existing metro and RRTS corridors will be developed as mixed-land use under the TOD policy. The new township, Harnandipuram, will undergo a complete transformation with enhanced civic amenities and infrastructure development," Singh said.

(ET)