BMC flooded with 10,000 complaints against Mumbai DP in 2 days

Making the most of the last chance to get their voice heard, Mumbai residents have sent 10,000 suggestions and objections against the draft development plan (DP) to the civic body in the past two days. The deadline ends on Friday.

Making the most of the last chance to get their voice heard, Mumbai residents have sent 10,000 suggestions and objections against the draft development plan (DP) to the civic body in the past two days. The deadline ends on Friday.

After receiving 35,000 letters from citizens, activists and NGOs in the past two months, the civic body is at its wit’s end. It has no system to maintain the large number of complaints coming in.

On Tuesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had scraped the draft DP and ordered the BMC to come up with a new one in the next four months.

With the civic body not extending the deadline, urban planners have been requesting citizens to send in as many objections to the DP as possible.

“Errors being pointed out in the draft DP will help improve the revised plan. If this opportunity is missed, many of the mistakes may be repeated,” said Pankaj Joshi, director, Urban Design research Institute.

While the letters were to be put online, the BMC is yet to formally appoint a consultant, although it has finalised one.

Opposition leaders took objection to the consultant being decided without the tendering process. Congress corporator Asif Zakaria said the matter will be taken up in the standing committee meeting next week. “The proposal has been sent to the standing committee just for information. The contract cost is Rs 18 lakh and our permission hasn’t been sought,” he said, adding, “We saw what happened with the consultant appointed for mapping the city’s DP. We will object to this.”

According to the CM’s directions, the BMC, after presenting the revised plan, will have to once again invite suggestions and objections from the public.

With municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte taking ill, the civic body is still to finalise its plan of action.