VANISHING GREEN
BMCs flip-flop could cost city an open space…..Sharad Vyas
BMCs flip-flop could cost city an open space…..Sharad Vyas
Mumbai : Defying every logic it had applied while purchasing green patchesfrom private players in the past,the civic improvements committee on Wednesday held back a decision to buy an open space in VileParle.
The 1,054 sq-m plot was not deemed fit for acquisition as it housed 19-odd structures (a legally declared slum ),that took up 40% of the total open space available.However,the BMC had earlier bought open plots that were fully encroached upon.The civic body will now have to either buy the Vile Parle plot for Rs 3.3 crore by July next year or return it to its original owner who had bought the land (reservedfor playground andhousing for the poor ) for Rs 60 lakh in 2008.
After a survey on encroachments in the city,an NGO,CitiSpace,recently revealed that of the 599 plots earmarked in the development plan asopen space,76 had been partly or fully encroached upon.Even then,the BMC has been applying different yardsticks and a lopsided approach while maintaining or purchasing reserved open plots.Consider this: about a year ago,the BMC bought a plot in Juhuthat was reserved for a dhobi ghat even when it was fully occupied by squatters.It had applied the same rule while buying three green patches in thewesternsuburbs at a market cost of Rs 21 crore in August.The plots in Dahisar,spread over a collective area of 8,250 sq m,were also completely taken over by encroachers.
Not only has the committee and the BMC been slack,they have also been applying different yardsticks in maintaining open spaces.If they could purchase plotswith 100%encroachment on them,why cannot they do so with this plot that has only 40% encroachment,and that too legal The 19 structures on the plot have been declared a slum since 1979 and there have been efforts for redevelopment under the SRA scheme, said a civicofficial.
Under Section 127 of the MRTPAct,residentsor housing societies can claim ownership if a reserved plot is not acquired by the state within 10 years of the DPs inception.If the state fails to acquire the land within 12 months of any interested person claiming the ownership,the landis given away to him.