11 eco-sensitive city plots marked for industrial use

Eleven pieces of land in the city classified as no develo-pment zones (NDZ) - most of them in Malad, a suburb that has developed rapidly as a commercial, business and residential destination over the past decade - have been marked for industrial and commercial use in the recently concluded existing land use (ELU) survey.

Eleven pieces of land in the city classified as no development zones (NDZ) - most of them in Malad, a suburb that has developed rapidly as a commercial, business and residential destination over the past decade - have been marked for industrial and commercial use in the recently concluded existing land use (ELU) survey.

HT Image

Plots are demarcated as NDZs as they are in ecologically-sensitive areas and act as coastal buffer zones. NDZs are under the state's control.

The survey, conducted by a civic body-appointed consultant, will form the basis for Mumbai's new development plan, which will guide development in the city for the next 20 years.

Navroz Mody, vice-president of Bombay Environment Action Group, said: "A thorough mapping of NDZ land must be done so it can't be used illegally."

As reported in HT's Septem-ber 12 edition, there are 1,200 land parcels whose land use classification in the ELU survey is different from what is shown in the 1991 DP, currently in force.

The 11 plots are part of the 1,200. It's unclear whether the discrepancies are the result of legitimate change in land use classification or are errors or the result of manipulation of land records.