Navi Mumbai to get new development plan for next 20 years

NMMC to present the first draft before the general body in October; a six-member panel to look into suggestions and objections

If everything goes according to plans, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will prepare the first draft of the new development plan (DP) for the next 20 years by October.

City is planned for a population of 20 lakh with a potential to accommodate another 15 to 20 lakh. It is estimated that the population will rise to 30 to 40 lakh. (Bachchan Kumar/HT)

This is for the first time the NMMC will introduce a DP for the city’s development ever since it was formed in 1991.

However, it will take almost a year to send it to the state government for implementation, a senior officer said.

The NMMC was supposed to present the first draft of the DP by March 31. However, it failed to complete the surveys on time.

Momin Mohammed Hussain, chief of the town planning department of the NMMC, said, “We finished the surveys of the existing infrastructures a few weeks ago. Our officials are busy with data collections. We will present the first draft before the general body in October.”

The general body will publish the draft and form a committee of six members comprising three corporators and three government officials. “The committee will take suggestions and objections from residents and activists and make the necessary changes in the draft. This will take two months,” Hussain said.

The draft will again be presented before the general body. The general body will approve the final draft and sent it to the state government. “Thus it will take one year for the entire process before the final draft is sent to the state,” he added.

The state government had planned Navi Mumbai and some parts of the Raigad district as a new township in 1971.

The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) was formed to develop this part of the state as a proper urban area with all basic amenities.

Whatever infrastructure the city has at present is according to Cidco plans that were made when the city was formed.

The state government, they will implement is as per the norms of MRTP Act.

When asked about the main aspects that the new DP is concentration on, Hussain said, “We are still working on it. The first draft is not yet ready.”

Mayor JD Sutar said the new DP will bring a lot of transparency to the development works.

“The DP will bring about a change for sure. First, Cidco will not be able to sell open plots in the city by changing the rules like they are doing now. Second, residents will know what the NMMC is planning to do in which area. Politicians or civic officials will not be able to influenc¬¬e the pre-decided plans,” he added.

Additional commissioner of NMMC Ankush Chavan said, “Ever since the Cidco developed the city, there have been no proper surveys and changes in terms of land use in this area. With thousands of people migrating from different parts of the country, the city’s population has increased manifold in the past couple of decades. Therefore, a proper study of its land utilisation is needed and we are doing that while making the new DP.”

A senior Cidco official said that the plan prepared and introduced in 1979 was not a conventional DP.

“It was a structure plan. Normally a DP has to be revised in every 20 years. We revised it from time to time and carried on the developmental works in the city. We tried to make proper use of the land in Navi Mumbai according to our structure plan. But we never misused it or sold some posts by changing rules,” said the official, requesting anonymity.