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1. Introduction

1.1 As per latest Census count 2001, the total urban population of India is 285 million which account for 27.78 percent of the total population of 1027 million in India. During the last century number of towns and cities have multiplied by two and half fold while the urban population has increased more than 10 times. Today, we have the second largest urban system in the world. Unplanned and uncontrolled urban growth have outpaced the planning efforts in urban areas. With the result the urbanization in response to economic and population growth momentum have serious effects on urban living environment. Master Plan approach currently in vogue is an important instrument of spatial planning process which aims at channelising the built urban form and directing the growth of urban areas, implementation of Master Plan for various towns and cities may not be very encouraging on the whole but certain development schemes taken up as part of Master Plan or as prelude to development are successful experiments in many states. Town Planning Scheme on land pooling technique has been successfully used for plan implementation in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and some other states. This facilitated assembly and development of urban land without resorting to compulsory land acquisition under Land Acquisition Act 1894. Through the mechanism of Town Planning Scheme urban local bodies launched land pooling and redistribution process in urban areas ensuring self-serviced planned and orderly development of towns and cities.

1.2 Before analyzing the effectiveness of Town Planning Schemes in Indian situation the scale and magnitude of urbanization and its resultant problems and the efficacy of the instruments for planned development need to be seen. India has entered the 21st Century with urban population of 285 million which is even greater than the total population of United States of America. The million plus cities have also grown substantially in terms of number, size and area. As per 2001 Census there are 35 million plus cities which account for about one third of India's urban population. The urbanization scenario reveal that the percentage of urban population which was about 20% in 1971 may increase to about 41 to 45% by 2021. In absolute terms it may increase to about 550 million by 2021. On the other hand urban decadal population growth has gone down from 46% during 1971 - 81 to about 31% during the last decade of 1991 - 2001. Similarly, the metropolitan cities which were just 5 in 1951 have increased by 2001 and may go up to 75 by 2021. Table - I indicates the growth pattern of town and cities since 1951.

1.3 The above table and figures reveal that although decadal urban growth rate has declined there is a steady increase in urbanization level and absolute urban population. Major concentration of urban growth is mainly in large and metropolitan cities. It clearly implies that with rapid growth of Class - I and million plus cities the problem of land management is becoming more and more complex as the years pass by. An interesting feature of urban growth in Indian situation is almost equal increase of urban population by natural growth and by migration each accounting for about 40% while the rest of the urban growth may be attributed to re-classification of rural areas into urban centers. Most of the natural increase in large and metro cities confines within the same cities whereas migration streams flow from villages to towns and towns to large cities. As it has happened in some of the developed countries but in India urbanization process is unidirectional because there is hardly flow of migration from large cities towards rural India. It, therefore, clearly indicates that the present trends, if not reversed intentionally, would continue in future leading to massive increase in the size of large and metro cities. Since the Sixth Five Year Plan, it has been recognized that urbanization can make a positive contribution to economic growth provided the economic base of the cities is strengthened and productivity increased. In this regard the planning process is bound to play a significant role to channelise the urbanization and growth to the desired direction.

2. Urban Planning System
2.1 In India, urban planning is a state subject and the Central Government / Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation lays downs policies and guidelines for urban planning and development for the country. The urban planning projects and schemes are taken up either in the state sector or in the central sector for the funding is provided by the central government either by grants or on matching basis or by the state government based on their capacity of implementation. The constituent states and Union Territories are required to enact their own Urban and Regional Planning and Development Acts. These Acts are by and large based on Model Regional Planning and Development Law prepared by TCPO. At present urban planning and development activities are undertaken at three levels viz. Central, State and Local Levels.

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