Mira-Bhayandar: In a decision that will determine the fate of twin-city in terms of proper planning and holistic development, the state government has decided to incorporate suggestions and reservations mooted by the civic administration in the new development plan of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC).
After a delay of more than six years, the MBMC’s which was finally in publication mode was once again staring at an uncertain future after being hit by allegations over glaring anomalies and bias by the planning authority to benefit the powerful builder lobby of the twin-city.
MBMC moots changes in development plan after MLA raises issue
Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik had dropped a bombshell in the assembly house by stating that not only important amenities such as education hub, crematoriums, and revised metro car shed been ignored while preparing the new development plan, some of the reservations on land parcels by ignoring the suggestions mooted by the civic administration.
Taking a serious note of the issue, a meeting was held in the presence of MLA’s Sarnaik, Geeta Jain, civic chief Sanjay Katkar, principal secretary (urban development) Aseem Gupta, city engineer Deepak Khambit and officials attached to the town planning wing on Tuesday. The minister said that the final development plan will be approved only after rectification and suggestions mooted by the civic administration are incorporated in the vision document.
“The development plan of any city does not belong to the builders but to the concerned municipality, so the decision to publish the final plan has been made in today's meeting only after taking the public interest reservations suggested by the civic administration. We are thankful to the minister,” said Sarnaik.
The state government has allocated funds for the construction of various amenities including hospital and community buildings and the decision will ensure that there is no setback to those works, due to the unmindful changes. Approved in May-1997, the development plan’s existence came to an end after 20 years. A new 20-year fresh vision document was mandated to be prepared and ratified before 2017. Owing to inordinate delays, the government had stripped the MBMC's power by handing over the responsibility of preparing the new vision document to the assistant director of town planning, Thane.
Criminal cases against builders who fail to handover facility plots
Apart from issuing orders for speeding up developmental works funded by the state government, the minister also gave instructions to the civic chief to file criminal charges against land owners and builders who fail to hand over the plots tagged with various public facilities or deceiving the municipal corporation by taking undue advantage of schemes. Another important decision was taken that houses built by MMRDA will be handed over to the MMBMC in the next one month.
