A framework for infrastructure planning.

Abstract

This dissertation is concerned with some aspects of infra-structure planning at the Taluka level. The infra-structure facilities considered are Education, Health and Road networks. Essentially the focus of the study is on the logistics of where to locate the centres, how to link villages with the nearest centres and how these should be developed in a phased manner. An integrated approach for solving the location, linkage problem has adopted. The problem is formulated as an integer programming problem and a heuristic method to solve this problem for validation and officacy and was later applied to a live situation, especially with reference to Doogarh Taluka, in the State of Rajasthan in India. Four different situations are presented and the suitability and applicability of the model is tested in each situation. When budget constraints limit the implementation of the task, the problem of phasing arises. This has been formulated as a dynamic programming problem. The special features of the present study is the consideration of inter-dependence of various infra-structure facilities, flexibility in handling different situations, development of suitable computer packages and adaptability to a host of location linkage problems.