CHENNAI: A cluttered stream of opinion from various quarters on how to tackle complications in urban development is leaving the Tamil Nadu planning agency in a confused state of mind, said housing and urban development secretary Dharmendra Pratap Yadav on Wednesday. 

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yadav said solutions suggested within the government body were "impressionistic and eclectic" and devoid of scientific research. 

Referring to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority's master plan, he said it is doubtful if factors such as industrial growth was considered before the planning agency declared areas around water bodies as no development zone. "Preserving a water body is fine. But does that warrant a blanket rule of no development?" he said. 

Yadav lamented that the administrative system he works within ensures that knowledge development is scarce among officials, even at his level. 

"It is firefighting what we are doing. I have no time. On any day, I need to file counter affidavits, reply to RTIs, hold meetings and spend time looking at files that are 20 years old," he said. All this has led to a situation where the city's poor are excluded in the urban planning process, he added. 

The workshop also saw participation from Vijay Pingale, joint secretary, industries department and revenue secretary, B Chandramohan. Pingale spoke at length about the drawbacks of a fragmented city government system. 

"It is difficult to evolve city government concept as the state is entrenched in the city's administration. But it is not difficult to integrate. We need to attempt integration of databases of the various departments," he said. 

Pingale, who once served as the joint commissioner (works) of the Greater Chennai Corporation, also echoed Yadav's thoughts and said the administration was more "reactionary" and not proactive. 

Chandramohan presented his experience as chief of MetroWater during December 2015 floods and hailed the spirit of resilient Chennai. 

Other notable speakers were Michele Clarke, associate pro vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham, who observed that the Chennai floods could have been handled better had there been open access to data on weather, tidal waves and traffic integration. 

In this regard, she suggested that Chennai could learn from the cities of Newcastle and Bristol. "Newcastle and Bristol, both coastal cities like Chennai, have developed an urban observatory which helps the public understand the city better through citizen participation," she said. 

The urban observatory brings together engineers who use super computers to create a multi-disciplinary research team. The observatory which has been developing rapidly over the last two months can provide dynamic real-time data with respect to dust content, humidity, number of cars on the road and data from sensors set up across the city. 

Bristol administrators have built a strong underground network of superfast 5G broadband connectivity to create an integrated digital centre, she said.