Fresh differences in MVA over making BMC single planning authority

The Shiv Sena, which is ruling the civic body, has supported the idea to make BMC the single planning authority of the city on the grounds that it would help in the development of the city. However, its ruling partners —the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — have opposed it.

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is facing a fresh round of differences over making the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) a single planning authority for Mumbai. The Shiv Sena, which is ruling the civic body, has supported the idea on the grounds that it would help in the development of the city. However, its ruling partners —the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — have opposed it. They are of the view that it would create issues among various government agencies and could hamper city’s development. They also suspect that the Sena wants to take complete control of the city through the move.

Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar. (HT FILE)

The Sena has been ruling BMC, one of the richest civic bodies in Asia, since over two decades. While presenting the budget for 2021-22, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said they wanted BMC to be made a single planning authority for the city and a proposal has been sent to the state government accordingly.

Currently, the city has multiple planning authorities such as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). These bodies have jurisdiction over certain areas in the city where BMC is not the planning authority. For example, MMRDA is the planning authority for parts of Bandra Reclamation, Bandra-Kurla Complex and Nariman Point; many areas along the east coast of Mumbai are with MbPT, Andheri East is in the possession of MIDC; SRA is the planning authority for all slums in the city from Dahisar to Colaba; and there are 156 layouts of Mhada across the city.

Citing the example of the structure of the state government, he said, “Going by the argument pushed by the Shiv Sena, why does the state need other ministers in the government when all the decisions have to be approved only by the chief minister as the head of the government. “The argument of the gap in coordination makes no sense,” he further said.

State transport minister and senior Sena leader Anil Parab said they are of the same view as BMC as it would be in the interest of the city, but added that the decision would be taken only after holding deliberations with the ruling allies. “There should be only one planning authority for the city and it is our (Sena) stand. There are 16 different authorities in the city at present, some are related to the state government while others are associated with the Centre; hence lack of coordination create hurdles in city’s development works,” Parab said.

Citing an example, he said, “The layout of 56 colonies of Mhada has to be prepared for redevelopment. BMC has enough manpower for the work, but they (Mhada) do not have enough manpower, which is delaying the redevelopment work. Similarly, works such as cleaning of drainages get delayed because of lack of coordination among many of these authorities.”

He also clarified that no decision has been taken yet. “We will be taking a decision only after deliberating it with the allies,” Parab said.

However, state housing minister Jitendra Awhad, who hails from NCP, strongly opposed the move on Friday. He said, “It was morally wrong on the part of the municipal commissioner to make such a demand without any sort of political deliberations. The issue is not limited to Mhada but also SRA and MMRDA which have played an important part in the development of Mumbai. Mhada is now constructing houses across the state. Decentralisation also helps in speedy implementation of development works.”

Deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar was cautious while making a comment. “The Sena has a clear majority in BMC and they are ruling the civic body for more than two decades. The decision of the civic body has been made by the mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee chief, leader of the house; and the municipal commissioner implements the decision. Why would he want it to be done? The president of the party (Sena), which is leading the corporation, is also the chief minister. Every decision has to be approved by him. Can Chahal say anything without his approval?” Pawar told reporters in Pune.

The Congress has openly opposed the concept with Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap saying that the contribution of other agencies in the development of the city cannot be overlooked. “The Congress is opposed to the idea of making BMC the single planning authority in the city. Other agencies such as MMRDA and Mhada have also significantly contributed to the development of the city and their rights should not be taken away. A detailed discussion was held before the formation of these authorities; it is not like the decisions were taken following someone’s whims and fancies. We will not let this happen,” Jagtap said.