BMC wants Grand Hyatt, MU to hand over Kalina land

A copy of the letter marked to Hotel Grand Hyatt and Mumbai University, which is in the possession of Hindustan Times, states that the said road is not handed over to BMC by you till date, and maintenance of the said road comes under the purview of respective CTS owners

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wants Hotel Grand Hyatt, the University of Mumbai (MU) and three other entities in Kalina to hand over their land to build a motorable 44-feet road in Santacruz (East). Civic officials told HT that despite availing of the floor space index (FSI) benefit, the owners in question had failed to fulfil their responsibility of maintaining the stretch of road between Pipeline Road and Hans Bhugra Road, which was in terrible shape. The road line with a width of 13.40 metres passes through the plots of the abovementioned landowners.

Mumbai, India - October 31, 2022: Pipeline Road closed due to repair and maintenance work, at Santacruz, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, October 31, 2022. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

A copy of the letter marked to Hotel Grand Hyatt and Mumbai University, which is in the possession of Hindustan Times, states, “The said road is not handed over to BMC by you till date, and maintenance of the said road comes under the purview of respective CTS owners. As the said road is not handed over to BMC, respective CTS holder has to keep the said stretch motorable belonging to you.” (Sic)

The letter goes on to say that since the road is used by the public, it is assumed by citizens that the road is maintained by the BMC, which is erroneous. “Due to this misinterpretation by common public, the image of BMC gets damaged. In view of above, you are requested to handover the said road to BMC through proper channel so that BMC can further maintain the said road as per existing municipal policy.”

Alka Sasane, assistant commissioner, H (east) ward told HT that there were five plot owners on nine CTS numbers who had a claim on these plots. “If they hand over the land to us, we can construct a proper 13.40-meter road,” she said. “Our image is getting tarnished because it is not being maintained. We have to consider public safety as also the public’s point of view. It was also the responsibility of the five owners to develop a sewer and drainage system and hand it over to us. This was never done.”

When Sasane was asked about the next course of action if the land owners refused to hand over the plot, she remarked that even if the BMC forcefully acquired the land, it would benefit the owners. “If we build the road, sewer line and drainage ourselves, we save them the trouble,” she said. “We can transfer the cost to their property tax. It was their responsibility to maintain the road as they availed of the FSI benefit. They never did, and now when it is their turn to hand over the road, they are backing out.”

Both, Hotel Grand Hyatt and Mumbai University representatives did not respond to the queries emailed to them by HT.