Accessible open space area just 1.33% of total landmass: Survey….Sharvari Patwa
Shrinking spaces of 128.26 sq.km of natural areas and open spaces in city, 34.8% is under sanjay gandhi national park
Shrinking spaces of 128.26 sq.km of natural areas and open spaces in city, 34.8% is under sanjay gandhi national park
While the city seems to be growing vertically as well as horizontally, its open spaces seem to be shrinking. As per the latest land user survey data being prepared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in association with a private firm as part of its revised development plan, the total accessible open space area minus the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, has been reduced to just 1.33 per cent of the total landmass of the city.
The land user data, which has been collected as part of the larger Development Plan 2014-2034 preparation, states that the city has over 30 per cent of its total area under natural areas and open spaces at 128.26 sq km out of the total area of 413.93 sq km. Out of this share of 128.26 sq km of natural areas and open spaces in the city, a whopping 34.8 per cent is the land purely under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which is the city’s single biggest green lung. The next major chunk (29.9 per cent) is mangrove land.
The natural area also includes, mudflats, hills, rivers, creeks, natural water sources, lakes, tanks and ponds. However, locally accessible open spaces that constitute playgrounds, gardens and parks, recreational grounds, clubs, gymkhana, beaches and promenades amount to only 4.29 per cent as part of the total natural area and open space and a minuscule 1.33 percent of the total landmass area of the city.
Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) director Pankaj Joshi said, The open space ratio of 1.33 per cent to the total area points out that there is something grossly wrong with the urban planning department in this city. The ratio of usable space has dropped substantially in the past 30 years since 1981. This ratio also effectively means that the per capital usable open space is just 0.4 sq metre compared to the three sq metre which had been reserved for open space use in 1981.Urban planners and activists point out that the drop in the usable open space area has been more than 80 per cent of what had been planned and expected 30 years back. This is also in stark contrast to the basic requirement of 11 sq metre per capita of open space which has been highly recommended by the Urban Development Plan Formation & Implementation Guidelines of 2002 by the Ministry of Urban Affairs.
Chief Engineer of the Development Planning Department of BMC, J V Patgaonkar said, This data is purely indicative until it is further analysed. We are currently on the initial stage of the project and further statistical analysis needs to be done. Also, this data has been prepared by GPS technique and other economic and demographic assumptions and there might be room for some errors.
While the second largest share of the city’s land is being used for residential purposes with over 25 per cent share for the same, the third largest component is the transport and communication facilities which amount to over 12 per cent of the land use in the city. According to a civic official, these facilities include flyovers, roads, railway lines and so on.While the latest land use plan has pegged the citys total area to 413.93 sq km, it has excluded the 43.22 sq km which fall under the MMRDA, Airport, BKC and MIDC, among others. The new land-use plan has been collated and prepared by the BMC-appointed consortium of Indian and French urban planning company called Groupe SCE India Pvt Ltd. The detailed plan of the city, including the land user survey, will be later used to create the Development Plan for the city for the 2014-2034 period.