The preparation of the long-pending master plan—crucial for the next 20 years of planned development of Belagavi city and 55 surrounding villages in the taluka—has once again run into difficulties. The process has stalled after the appointed contractor failed to pay the mandatory security deposit, resulting in the Belagavi Urban Development Authority (BUDA) withholding the issuance of the work order.
The Belagavi Urban Development Authority had issued a letter of acceptance to the selected contractor. As per norms, the work order is released only after the security deposit is paid within the stipulated time. However, the contractor failed to deposit the amount, prompting BUDA to issue a formal notice. With no response forthcoming, and the payment still pending even after an additional week, the authority has decided to initiate the process of cancelling the contract.
If the contract is terminated, the entire tender process for preparing the master plan will have to be restarted, making further delays inevitable.
The urgency is underscored by the fact that the city’s existing master plan expired as early as March 2021. A new plan was expected to be in place well before that. In 2020, under the AMRUT scheme, the state government had entrusted the task of preparing the master plan to an E-GIS company. Although the company commenced work after the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, disputes later arose between the Urban Development Department and the firm over billing issues. This led to the cancellation of the company’s contract.
Subsequently, the responsibility of preparing the master plan was transferred directly to BUDA. The authority conducted the tender process twice, but both attempts failed to attract a successful bidder. In the third attempt, a contractor was finalised. However, the process has once again hit a roadblock due to the contractor’s inaction.
The master plan, which is vital for the systematic and sustainable development of Belagavi city and its surrounding villages, now faces yet another phase of uncertainty. Whether it moves forward as intended or remains mired in administrative and technical hurdles will become clear in the coming days.