1. INTRODUCTION:

It is believed that man began to live in cities about 5500 years ago. Cities were born out of the primary needs of man for shelter, protection and for mutual aid which all were social necessities. The garden city movement preached and practiced by “Sir Ebenezer Howard of England” which are discussed in his book “Garden Cities of Tomorrow” published in the early 20^th century is a great land mark in Town Planning movement. Even though we can claim that Town Planning and Planned Development of Communities existed in India from times immemorial, as evidenced by the excavations in Harappa and Mahenjodara, scientific city planning is recent origin in the country. In India during the British regime Town Planning used to be of the imperialistic colonial style. Later after independence this has changed and attempts have been made to develop a style of planning relevant to the conditions prevalent in the country. In the early part of the 20^th century, the town planning movement started following the haphazard growth of urban areas due to industrialisation.

The Department of Town Planning in the State was established in the year 1959 with the main purpose of promoting planned physical development of urban and rural areas. The activities of the department have been multifarious. The scope of town planning which was limited to preparation of small layouts, town extension / improvement schemes has widened to embrace all developmental activities.