Hindustan Times 10.12.2010
Corporators blame BMC for loss of open spacesThe city’s corporators have held the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) responsible for encroachments on public land and open spaces. At Thursday’s general body meeting, corporators from all parties said the BMC did not maintain open spaces reserved for a particular purpose. Congress corporator Rajendra Chaube, who raised the issue, said instead of waiting for a purchase notices to be issued to it, the BMC should acquire plots reserved for different purposes on its own and develop them. There are 3,600 different reservations under the civic development plan.
“The BMC should possess the reserved plots. These spaces will get encroached upon because of the [civic body’s] neglect. Then we will have to give alternative accommodation to people living on them,” Chaube said.
Chaube said in the past, the BMC had paid hefty sums to acquire land, 90% of which had been encroached upon, while neglecting its own land that had no encroachments.
BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said the BMC is at a stage at which the 1991 development plan will be phased out and a new development plan drawn up in 2014. “The BMC should ask the government to clarify whether any purchase notices sent to the BMC on the 1991 plan during this phase are valid or not,” he said.
Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said the BMC will write to the state asking for a clarification on purchase notices.
A development plan is a blueprint for developing the city. It specifies how land will be used for the next 20 years. The BMC is chalking out a plan for 2014 to 2034. Mhaiskar said reservations developed in every ward will be prioritised depending on the need of the ward.
