Devpt on salt pan land: IIT-B to check feasibility

The Maharashtra government will conduct a geological survey with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) to check if salt pan land in Mumbai

The Maharashtra government will conduct a geological survey with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) to check if salt pan land in Mumbai can be opened up for construction. The announcement was made after legislators expressed concern over reports that the city is at risk of being submerged by 2050. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ameet Satam has raised the matter in the lower house.

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Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat announced the same in the state Assembly on Monday.

“We will conduct a geological survey through IIT-Bombay to check the feasibility of opening salt pan land for constructing low-cost houses,” Thorat said, adding that a high power committee headed by the chief secretary for supervision and monitoring of the issue has already been created.

The revenue minister also said that the state government is positive about providing salt pan land for low-cost housing schemes. “There are 40 salt pan plots in Mumbai, of which 355.33-acre land spread across seven salt pans can be used for development,” he said, quoting a 2015 Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) report on the use of salt pan land.

Thorat pointed out that the 355.33 acres do not fall under CRZ-I. However, the plots are partially owned by the state and the Central government and hence, both the governments need to jointly formulate a policy. “We need to conduct an exact calculation of land and prepare a plan by following the Development Plan (DP) 2034 devised by the BMC,” he said. Satam has demanded a geological survey by IIT-B regarding the feasibility of opening up salt pan land for the affordable housing scheme.

The state is keen to unlock these plots and provisions for the same were also made in the DP 2034. The DP had earmarked 130 hectares (321 acre) of salt pan land to be used for affordable housing. The city has a total of 2,177 hectares (5,379 acre) of salt pan land, of which only 721 hectares (1,781 acre) can be developed under the special development zone category.

Last year in May, the state government has given its consent to the Centre to put salt pan land in the concurrent list of Schedule VII of the Constitution. This could empower the state to make its own laws for use and development of salt pan land in line with the existing Central laws. However, this will be possible only after the Centre makes an amendment in the Constitution.

The salt pan land is currently in the Union list and all issues related to it are addressed by the Union commerce and industry ministry. The state has nearly 13,000 acre of salt pan land, with 5,300 acre in Mumbai; around 2,000 acre in Vasai; and 2,000 acre in Palghar district. In the city, salt pan lands are in Wadala, Ghatkopar, Turbhe, Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, Nahur, Mulund, Malvani, Dahisar, Mira Bhayander, and Virar.