New Town Development Authority (NTDA)

In February this year the community selected new members for four major working groups. Christine asked Carel, whose term of office has come to an end after serving two terms in the Working Committee, about his 6-years’ experience.

Until now the approach proposed by the Tamil Nadu Govt to Auroville has been to constitute first of all an authority (NTDA), make a development plan, and then carry out a public consultation.

In a presentation to the Residents Assembly on 23rd August, the Working Committee reported that while there is agreement that private development within the Master Plan is one of the most serious challenges facing Auroville, there is no consensus on the possible solution.

Survey markings in the Greenbelt installed by a consultant working for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) revealed that plans were afoot to build a four-lane National Highway through the Auroville Green Belt for a length of 3.5 kilometers, crossing the Forecomers, Pitchandikulam and Aurogreen areas.

On May 7th, the Land Protection Group presented in a public meeting its findings on the best way to protect the land needed for the Auroville township from unsolicited development.

A series of workshops were held to explore possibilities in regards to protecting Auroville land. The first two mornings focused on ground realities and provided the outlines of four proposals.

Pashi Kapur came to live in Auroville with his family in early 1974. Since then, he has contributed a great deal but his Auroville journey has not always been smooth.