Some grounds inaccessible, others swallowed by builders: Activists

Data from the BMC’s Development Plan (DP) department shows that many of the 2,360 plots reserved for gardens, parks and playgrounds are still undeveloped, including salt pan lands in F North ward, Wadala

MUMBAI: The mandatory 70% recreational ground (RG) provision under Mumbai’s Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) 2034 was intended to ensure that housing projects create accessible public open spaces. Yet, many RG plots across the city remain inaccessible, undeveloped or outside effective civic control, raising questions over whether Mumbai’s promised public amenities exist more on paper than on the ground.

The Shahid Colonel Santosh Mahadik Manoranjan Maidan (playground) in Prabhadevi (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

According to civic data, 394 RG plots across Mumbai are maintained by contractors rather than the BMC, while numerous RG plots earmarked for public use are yet to be formally handed over by developers, who often amalgamate them into their private plots. Separately, data from the BMC’s Development Plan (DP) department shows that many of the 2,360 plots reserved for gardens, parks and playgrounds are still undeveloped, including salt pan lands in F North ward, Wadala.

The issue recently came into focus in Mumbai’s G South ward, following a complaint by civic activist Santosh Daundkar that a 2,512.96-sq-m RG plot in Lower Parel, where land was shown as handed over to the BMC nearly 19 years ago, continued to remain physically occupied by a developer. The controversy follows an earlier issue flagged by G South ward assistant commissioner Swapnaja Kshirsagar concerning Colonel Santosh Mahadik Maidan on Gokhale Road. According to ward records, while “advance possession” of the plot existed on file, no record of final possession could be traced.

Sunil Rathod, chief engineer of the BMC’s DP department, implying that RG handovers happened as per the norms, said that developers could not avail of planning incentives without complying with the norms. “The very day a builder hands over an RG to the DP department, it is given to the garden department for maintenance,” he said. “There are stages of approval and the developer will not get benefits such as TDR or FSI without the handover.”

Rathod also noted that the 2,360 reserved plots include large tracts of salt pan land. “There are around 4,000 acres of salt pan lands. The state government has sought nearly 3,000 acres, while only around 1,000 acres are reserved for public purposes,” he said.

Advocate YP Singh said the recurring disputes over RG plots stemmed from a departure from planning law.

“As per Sections 43 and 46 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966, every building permission has to comply with the Development Plan,” he said. “Handing over of DP reservations ought to be a condition precedent to granting building permission. Instead, buildings are allowed to come up first and handing over DP reservations comes later. Because of this deviation from the law, the public has been deprived of precious open spaces.” Activists claim the issue is especially prevalent in Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects.

Daundkar alleged that developers often earmark mandatory open spaces in project layouts but fail to develop or hand them over to the BMC, leaving RG plots inaccessible or under private control for years. “Delayed or incomplete handovers undermine planning goals and public access to recreational land, turning many of Mumbai’s promised open spaces into little more than sanctioned plans on paper,” he said.

When contacted, Ajitkumar Ambi, deputy municipal commissioner (gardens), said the gardens department was not responsible for taking possession of reserved plots. “Too many are in the possession of private owners and developers,” he said. “Possession has to be taken by the chief engineer of the DP department. At the time of development and building permissions, handing over of open-space plots has to be done to the DP department.”

The issue is even graver considering Mumbai’s chronic lack of open spaces. Although the Development Plan targets 4 sq m of open space per capita, the city remains far below global liveability benchmarks. The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum of 9 sq m per person, while Mumbai offers barely 1.2 sq m per capita. Even many existing gardens and playgrounds suffer from poor maintenance and deteriorating infrastructure.