On Public Land As Public Asset, A Few Questions For The BMC

Dear BMC and Maharashtra government,

Your handling of land and land-related issues in Mumbai is getting more and more confusing, opaque and illogical by the day. The saying is that the left hand does not know what the right does, but, in your case, it seems that both hands know perfectly well what’s being done and why; it’s only us, the people of Mumbai, who are deliberately kept in the dark or confused. So, here are a few questions.

Public Land And Public Interest

How, in what role, do you see yourself vis-à-vis public land in the city? Ideally, and legally, you are the custodian of all such plots and stretches of land, not their owner to do as you deem fit or your bosses, whoever they may be, dictate to you. You hold custody of land on behalf of the people of Mumbai and should be keeping public interest—the good and welfare of the majority of Mumbaikars—at the heart of all the decisions you take about the land in the city.

Yet, without public consultations and open discussions of plans calling for alternatives in a city flooded with experts and professionals, acres and acres of public land have been handed over—leased, as your circulars say, though many believe it is a euphemism—to private entities and large conglomerates in the name of ‘development’.

What ‘development’ happened in Mumbai after nearly 600 acres spread across the erstwhile Girangaon, the village of textile mills, were similarly monetised? How many and which Mumbaikars benefited from this anyway? The naïve amongst us, those who thought that governments functioned in public interest, believed it was an exceptional sacrilege. But it turned out to be the preferred template.

In the past few years, we have mutely witnessed nearly 600 acres of public land in Dharavi slip out of public hands; nearly 1,000 acres being handed over to one entity; plans to monetise nearly 190 acres of BEST bus depot land as recommended by the institution for transformation (MiTRA); the signing off on 140 acres of land in Motilal Nagar and 98 acres in Bandra Reclamation held by MHADA; and the absence of any substantial claim over the 2,330 acres of port trust land.

Contradictions In Planning Decisions

When land-related plans are made, why do they often appear illogical and come with a host of contradictions? Take the recent case of Neville D’Souza Football Ground in Bandra West; the stand is that it can no longer be used for the sport by thousands of Mumbaikars because its original statutory reservation is for a convention centre, and that reservation would have to hold.

But in at least two cases—Alexandria Cinema in Byculla and a fire station in Versova—the statutory reservations were sought to be changed to allow residential use. What explains such inconsistency? Or perhaps it is not inconsistent at all. What is this demon of ‘monetisation’ that seems to guide land decisions to the exclusion of all else?

Do you keep track of the contradictions that have emerged from these decisions? Consider the handing over of 256 acres of Mumbai’s salt pan lands for Dharavi redevelopment and the felling of nearly 46,000 mangroves for the Rs 18,263 crore Versova-Bhayandar coastal road. These are Mumbai’s flood-mitigation infrastructures provided by nature.

Let us set aside, for a moment, that the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court permitted the cutting of mangroves, citing ‘public interest’ with certain conditions. What is the logic in removing them, concretising the areas, and then spending crores to build 164 ‘sponge parks’ as part of the city’s climate action plan?

Public Assets Need Protection

How difficult is it to be guided by what the Mumbai Architects Collective reminded the authorities this week: “planning decisions should be guided by one simple principle: public land is a public asset”?

Highlighting how recent proposals “suggest an increasing reliance on public and ecological assets to meet the city’s development, infrastructure and financial needs”, as many as 127 of the city’s planners and architects, several of them acclaimed personalities with decades of experience, pointed out that the government’s role is not only to facilitate development but also “to act as a trustee of the city’s common assets on behalf of present and future generations”.

The true measure of government, they reminded the authorities, is not only what it builds but also what it chooses to protect, and that “open space is not land waiting to be built upon. It is public infrastructure already performing invaluable environmental, social and economic functions. Parks, playgrounds, wetlands, mangroves and natural landscapes recharge groundwater, absorb stormwater, reduce flooding, improve air quality, lower urban temperatures, support biodiversity, strengthen neighbourhoods, and improve both physical and mental health. They are every bit as essential to a city’s functioning as roads, drainage, water supply and public transport.”

If these words have not already been considered, would it be possible to find a few minutes to read and reflect on them, and then act accordingly? If they have been considered, can dialogues be initiated to explore viable alternatives?

Who Is Mumbai Being Built For?

Most Mumbaikars are too busy trying to get from one part of the city to another twice a day for work to demand answers every time land deals involving public land are signed off. What drives the authorities, as custodians and guardians, to part with public assets in ways that appear to benefit a few disproportionately?

Even when some citizens find the time and inclination to ask questions or offer suggestions, responses are rare and decisions seldom appear to change in the larger public interest. Why is that so? What principle of a democratically elected government suggests that there is a mandate to proceed with decisions without meaningful public participation while the rest of the city remains unheard?

For whom is Mumbai being built, after all?

Smruti Koppikar, an award-winning senior journalist and urban chronicler, writes extensively on cities, development, gender and the media. She is the Founder Editor of the award-winning online journal Question of Cities and can be reached at smruti@questionofcities.org.

Published on: Thursday, August 13, 2026, 09:47 PM IST