At a time when the proposed Development Plan (DP) of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) continues to stare at an uncertain future, municipal commissioner Dr. Vijay Rathod has stoked a controversy by authorizing his second-in-command Dilip Dhole (additional municipal commissioner) to accept and screen proposals tabled by the town planning department.
An order to this effect was issued by the municipal commissioner on August 26, 2020.
The orders are in blatant contravention of a government resolution (GR) issued by the state’s urban development department (UDD) on January 28, 2010, which clearly states that all proposals prepared by the head of the town planning department have to be directly submitted before the chief officer in municipal councils and commissioners of municipal corporations.
Terming the municipal directions as arbitrary and in sharp contrast to the government guidelines, social activist Dr. Suresh Yewle has sought the commissioner’s intervention to roll-back the directions.
Although the move creates dual power centers which is clearly against the rule book, sanctioning powers have not been delegated to the additional municipal commissioner who only screens the proposals which are then tabled before the MBMC chief for final approval, said an official requesting anonymity.
More than three years after its validity came to an end in January 2018, the proposed DP continues to stare at an uncertain future, as the state government has stripped the MBMC off its power by handing over the charge to Thane’s Assistant Director of Town Planning (ADTP) for taking it to its logical conclusion.
MBMC’s DP came into effect in 1997 and a new 20-year fresh vision document was mandated to be prepared and ratified before January 9, 2018.
