From: b sabha <bcsabha.kal...@gmail.com>
* 27 Aug 2016 * Mumbai * Tanushree Venkatraman tanushree.venkatra...@hindustantimes.com<mailto:tanushree.venkatra...@hindustantimes.com> BMC makes a farce of DP, may junk all 9,616 citizen’s inputs <http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=9cc2eff6-0b53-4df8-a3e3-7b50c9ce8b56&key=sFYT1YOuf4uj0v9B9VkmGw%3d%3d&issue=87332016082700000000001001#> Committee to study objections exists only on paper as Sena delays appointing members MUMBAI: Your objections on the city’s Development Plan (DP) 2034 are likely to go unheard by your elected corporators. While Shiv Sena, the party that heads the civic body, has delayed the formation of the planning committee that has to hear the objections, civic officials say time is running out. According to Section 28 of the Mumbai Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966, the planning committee has to submit a report “within two months from the date of its appointment”. Though the state formed the committee on August 12, the BMC is yet to appoint officials to it. According to the Act, the committee must comprise three standing committee members and four experts appointed by the state government. It is to hear the 9,616 objections filed in by citizens between May and July, 2016. It will then submit a report to the general body which will, in turn, submit it to the state government in another two months. The committee has already lost two weeks since August 12. A senior civic official, who did not wish to be named, said, “The time period is two months, immaterial of the committee’s functioning.. The time period is essential because the city cannot lose any more time on the DP. There is too much confusion in the real estate market.” With no sanctioned DP for the city in more than two years now, the BMC is following the chief minister’s order of considering both, DP 1991 and 2034 and applying the rules. “Work is getting delayed,” the official said. On Tuesday, the Sena indefinitely postponed the committee’s formation, stating that all group leaders from various political parties should be a part of it — a demand that will require an amendment in the MRTP Act. Trushna Vishwasrao, leader of the house and Sena corporator said that the municipal commissioner needs to “shed more light” on the committee’s role before its formation. Asif Zakaria, a Congress corporator who opposed the Sena’s demand in the house said the Sena-BJP’s infighting is making the city suffer. DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2034: THE STORY SO FAR <http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=2274f0f5-2522-40f7-9867-32c9b782b6f6&key=SgEUNbEgq1x00TD%2bIgy0mw%3d%3d&issue=87332016082700000000001001#> The city's blueprint for its infrastructure development for the next 20 years has been long pending. Following a public outcry over the draft Development Plan (DP) 2034 released in February 2015, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered its revision. The plan has already been delayed by two years. [http://cache3-img1.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/docserver/getimage.aspx?regionguid=4fd0a26d-920e-4479-8729-feaae6d84aa9&scale=166&file=87332016082700000000001001®ionKey=N%2frV%2fnkO19zz5iwgba1t%2bA%3d%3d]HT FILE PHOTOThe BMC fears that the delay in forming the committee may result in the citizens’ observations going unheard. BMC sought two extensions following which the revised draft was published on May 27, 2016. BMC released the blueprint in four different phases to receive observations from citizens that have been included in the revised draft. Citizens were given 60 days from the date of publishing to send in their suggestions and objections. 9,616 objections were submitted by July 29, 2016, the last date. BMC has faced opposition from political parties such as Shiv Sena and NGOs on its plans to open up no-development zones and salt-pan lands for affordable housing in the city. According to the MRTP Act, BMC has to submit it to the state government within six months from the date of its publication. “If they (the Sena and BJP) wanted an amendment in the Act, it could have been done during the monsoon session. Why wait all this while? These are delaying tactics by both parties because of the upcoming civic elections.” ASIF ZAKARIA, a Congress corporator on the delay in the DP committee formation
