Space-starved Mumbai loses another playground, thanks to civic body’s 12-year delay

A proposal was tabled before the civic improvements committee, comprising corporators, on Tuesday to cancel the purchase of the plot admeasuring 1,097 square feet.

Mumbai has lost another open space, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) delayed the acquisition of a plot in Goregaon for more than 12 years.

A proposal was tabled before the civic improsvements committee, comprising corporators, on Tuesday to cancel the purchase of the plot admeasuring 1,097 square feet, after the Bombay high court terminated the transaction in 2015 owing to ‘inadmissible’ delay.

Corporators have rejected the proposal and demanded an inquiry into the delay.

The panel directed the DP department to figure out a way to purchase the plot.

The privately-owned plot was reserved as playground.

The BMC wanted to purchase the land from its owner Devakinandan Gupta, and convert it into a playground. In the Development Plan, it marked the plot as playground. The BMC then approached the suburban collector to facilitate the transaction and deposited Rs14 crore as advance.

However, the BMC’s administrative wing had allegedly ignored the issue for 12 years. When the owner approached the high court, it cancelled the transaction owing to delay.

Shiv Sena corporator Shraddha Jadhav, who is part of the improvements committee, said, “We cannot understand a 12-year delay to purchase a property, which would have added to the open spaces in Mumbai. We need to know why the delay happened and who was responsible for it.”