Mumbai: The much-touted develop-ment plan (DP) of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been delayed by at least another two months, thanks to corporators and officials associated with the planning department of the country’s richest civic body. Left in the lurch are the citizens of Mumbai, who play an important role in chalking out Mumbai’s development strategy.
Yashwant Jadhav, Leader of the House in the corporation and a key Shiv Sena corporator, has moved a motion seeking an extension of the deadline for accepting the DP by another two months. “Corporators from every party want more time to study the DP. Also, members of the BMC would like to spend more time going through the details of every ward.”
Other corporators from parties like the MNS, the NCP and the Congress supported the Sena’s stand for an extension of deadline for accepting the DP. Only the BJP, which is in alliance with the Sena, insisted that the DP should not be delayed any further. Manoj Kotak, Group Leader of the BJP, said, “Our party understands that corporators need more time to evaluate the DP. This is the third time that the DP has been delayed…But if the state government says no for any further extension of the deadline, the opportunity of giving suggestions and opinions would be missed.”
The last DP was approved and sanctioned in 1991. A new one is needed urgently so that the city is ready to cope with the changes in the last 20 years. Mumbai has grown, the population has increased dramatically, buildings have come up all over, the city has lost a lot of greenery to accommodate the demands of the infrastructure, trees are vanishing and it is now necessary to come up with a detailed development plan.
Godfrey Pimenta, a civil rights activist, pointed out the need for open spaces. “Earlier, as per the Supreme Court order, an open ground at Vile Parle was earmarked for a playground and nursing home. However, shocking as it may sound, in this DP, this very plot has been shown as a slum area.” Pimenta wants a detailed study of the plots in every constituency by the citizens. “We need an appropriate intervention in the proposed DP,” Pimenta said.
