Mumbai civic body to draft another development plan for 114 hectares in two weeks

A civic official from the DP department of the BMC said the plan is in its final stages and will be released in two weeks.

Two days after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) passed the Development Plan 2034 — the blueprint for the city’s growth

The DP 2014-34 was passed by the BMC on Monday night after a three-year delay and marathon-session of debates running for 10-hours. On Wednesday, civic officials confirmed the plan along with the Development Control Regulations (DCR) 2014-34 will be sent to the Maharashtra government by the end of the day.

For the next 20 years — there is separate one it plans to release for three land parcels in the city. In the next two weeks, this DP will also follow a similar approval procedure before it is presented before the state government for a final nod.

The three land parcels — 39.3 hectares in the Oshiwara District Centre, 47.37 hectares of the A block in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and 27.37 hectares between LBS Marg and Mithi river in Kurla — were handed over to the BMC by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) in 2016. By this time, the DP 2034 had already been finalised, hence the need for a separate one.

The land in BKC is the Bandra reclamation area, which includes Lilavati hospital, ONGC colony and a recreation ground.

In 2016, civic chief Ajoy Mehta had recommended to the government that Mumbai must have a single planning authority, which has also been mentioned in the DP. Under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1888, it is the BMC’s obligatory duty to provide civic infrastructure even if there are different planning authorities.

The BMC will have to take-up the same process of first publishing the plans, then inviting suggestions/objections from citizens for a period of 60 days. A planning committee will also be constituted to hear the objections over the plans.