Mumbai News: Citizens Groups Demand Gaothan Extension Policy For City’s Villages, Cite Raigad Precedent

After the Maharashtra government invited objections and suggestions regarding the extension of Hedutane village boundaries in Raigad district, citizen groups in Mumbai have renewed their demand for similar benefits under the Gaothan Extension Policy for the city’s gaothans and koliwadas.

What the Policy Allows

Under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, villages are allowed to extend their boundaries by 200 metres every year to accommodate population growth. This has been applied to villages in Raigad and other regions but not to those within Mumbai’s limits.

NAINA Development Plan Background

The Urban Development Department recently issued a notice on modifying Hedutane’s status to an ‘inhabited gaothan,’ including land within its 200-metre periphery as ‘urban village’ in the Development Plan (DP) of NAINA (Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area). NAINA, planned south of Navi Mumbai, will cover 174 villages, with CIDCO as its planning agency.

Mumbai’s Historic Urban Villages

Mumbai has 189 urban villages and koliwadas, many predating the city itself. Residents argue that while Raigad villages are being granted boundary extensions, their historic communities have been denied the same.

Citizen Groups Raise Concerns

Advocate Godfrey Pimenta of the Watchdog Foundation noted, “It is evident from this notice that benefits under the Gaothan Extension Policy have been extended outside Mumbai municipal limits, while city residents remain excluded.”

Legal Battle in High Court

The Watchdog Foundation and the Bombay East Indian Association had filed a petition in 2019 highlighting the state’s inaction. The Bombay High Court, while hearing the matter, stayed the demarcation of these villages as slums and the approval of slum redevelopment projects.

Call for Equal Treatment

In a letter to the Urban Development Department and the Chief Secretary, Watchdog Foundation urged the state to extend the policy equally across Mumbai. Denial, it argued, amounts to geographical discrimination that is “unjust and unacceptable.”

Possibility of Implementation in Mumbai

Though suburban growth has restricted village boundary extensions in several parts of the city, groups point out that it can be applied in areas like Madh, Manori, and Uttan, where vacant land still exists.