THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR MUMBAI
THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR MUMBAI
The
Maharashtra Region and Town Planning Act specify that every municipal
corporation must prepare a development plan to be implemented over 20 years.
The last time the development plan was prepared for Mumbai was in 1981 and it
was adopted only thirteen years later, in 1994. Thus a new plan, which is valid
for 20 years, will need to be prepared and ratified by 2014 and will be in
force till 2034.
The
current development plan defines land reservations- (that is land that is set
aside for a specific public purpose) amenities, transportation networks and
services through a coloured land-use map of the entire city. In order to
prepare this plan, Mumbai’s municipal corporation has selected an
international consultant through a tendering process and it will be expected to
collate and compile all of the data available on the city before making such a
plan.
The
Urban Design Research Institute is currently engaged in looking at how a public
participation planning process can be created to inform the making of this
development plan. The Institute has initiated a public participatory process to
support the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai in its preparation of the
new development plan. We feel it is necessary to reach out to the entire cross
section of the city and build stronger networks that can be part of a public
participation process for informing the Development Plan of the MCGM.
Mumbai development plan 2034
to be revised
State
government asks municipal corporation to correct factual errors, come out with
revised draft in four months
The Maharashtra government
has asked the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to correct factual
errors on land use in Mumbai’s draft development plan (DP) for 2034 and come
out with a revised draft within the next four months.
“The draft DP has
not been scrapped, the MCGM has been asked to republish it after correcting
factual mistakes about the land use within four months. The existing DP will
cease to exist after publication of the revised DP and the process of inviting
suggestions and objections from citizens will begin once again,” said state
urban development secretaryNitin Kareer.
A committee appointed by the state
government under the chairmanship of chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya in its
report noted several instances of factual mistakes on existing as well as
proposed land use. Beside, the draft DP doesn’t set aside adequate space for
public amenities while throwing open no-development zones for residential
purposes. It also ignored heritage structures in the commercial capital while
making its recommendations.
The MCGM published the draft DP on
24 February, 2015, providing a road map
for the city’s development till 2034. However, the plan came under severe
criticism as it suggested an increase in floor space index (FSI, which
indicates permissible construction on any plot), opening up no-development
zones for residential development, factual mistakes in existing land use and change
in reservation policy (reserving plots for public utilities) and also
suggesting opening up of 1,287 hectares of Aarey Milk colony located in western
suburb of Goregaon that is considered to be the green lung of Mumbai for
institutional development, among others. The MCGM has received little over
25,000 suggestions and objection from citizens of Mumbai.
Taking note of public outcry, chief
minister Devendra Fadnavis on 7 June appointed a committee under
the chairmanship of the chief secretary to go into proposals of the draft plan
and make recommendations to the government.
Fadnavis, while making a statement
on 10 April in the assembly, indicated that the government was in favour of
scrapping the draft DP, but said that a final decision will be taken only after
report by the committee headed by chief secretary is received.
“A development plan with a 20-year
horizon needs time to be honed and researched and if that means a year or two
longer, there’s no harm,” said Ashutosh Limaye, head of research at
Jones Lang LaSalle India, a property advisory.
Limaye added that development
guidelines are critical for any city or even smaller regions, as such planning
will direct the shape and form they take over a period of time.
An Edelweiss Securities Ltd note on Tuesday said that following
the announcement of the proposed DP, project approvals in the city had come to
a standstill. “With its scrapping, we expect project approvals and launches to
pick up in the coming weeks. However, demand remains weak and only well-priced,
quality projects from reputed developers are expected to see traction.”
Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director ofCBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd, said: “The
biggest issue which will arise out of this decision is what will happen in the
transition period till the new plan comes in. Due to uncertainty, developers
will be unable to launch new projects. I hope that the new plan is implemented
at the earliest to avoid further adverse impact on Mumbai’s real estate and its
infrastructure.”
However, town planners are divided
over the state government’s decision to direct MCGM to rectify the so-called
mistakes and republish the plan.
Sulakshana Mahajan, an urban planning consultant with the Mumbai
Transformation Support Unit, a state government-sponsored autonomous think
thank, said: “The state government can intervene in the plan-making process
only after general body of the municipal corporation approves it and sends it
to state government for its final approval. Intervening in the plan making
process before that will be clear cut violation of Maharashtra Regional Town
Planning (MRTP) Act.”
“I clearly smell a rat here; the
proposal for higher FSI would have clearly hurt the interest of the builder
lobby who benefit from scarcity of FSI through astronomical property prices and
they were always interested in maintaining status quo and derailing the
plan-making process”, Mahajan alleged.
However, Pankaj Joshi, executive director of the
Urban Research Design Institute, an independent think tank working in the field
of urban planning, said: “We welcome the state government’s decision and one
must congratulate Fadnavis for this decision, as he...took a decision after
considerable deliberations over the issue.”
And those who are saying the
government’s intervention is against MRTP seems to have not read the Act
completely. The section 154 of the Act gives overriding power to state
government to intervene in the plan-making process or any other function of
urban planning authorities such as MCGM at any stage, he claimed.
The MRTP Act, Section 154 reads:
“Every Regional Board, Planning Authority and Development Authority shall carry
out such directions or instructions as may be issued from time to time by the
State Government for the efficient administration of this Act.”
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