In the early part of the twentieth century, town planning was considered a part of municipal functions. The problems of town improvement were, both in their scope and complexity, such that they could be handled by the municipal administration within the resources it possessed. Improvement Trusts were created to prepare improvement schemes for big towns and to develop roads, sewerage, water supply, electricity and plots to be leased out to private parties for construction of buildings . They aimed to prepare Master Plan for the city and implement Improvement Schemes. Improvement Trusts were not bound to follow the Master Plan prepared by Local Body or State Town Planning Department.
A devastating plague epidemic hit the city of Bombay spreading panic cutting across all sections of the society .More than 500,000 of the city’s inhabitants fled the city, crippling Bombay’s commercial and industrial activities, including the cotton mills. Between 1897 and 1899, the plague hit about 6% of its population. The city’s terrible housing conditions facilitated the spread of the disease, and death rates in working-class neighbourhoods climbed as high as 12.5 percent.
Improvement Trust Act
Consequently, the Government formulated a scheme for the better ventilation of the densely populated parts of the city, removal of insanitary dwellings and prevention of over-crowding. In September, 1897, the Government of Bombay put forward definite proposals for the establishment of an Improvement Trust for the city. Thus, the City Improvement Trust was created under the Bombay Act, IV of 1898.
The Bombay Improvement Trust was soon followed by the
City Improvement Trust, Mysore (1903),
the Calcutta Improvement Trust (1911) and the
United Provinces Town Improvement Act of 1919
which led to the constitution of
Improvement Trusts for Lucknow (1919),
Kanpur (1919) and
Allahabad (1920).
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