BMC to give city 52 open spaces….Sujit Mahamulkar
Within a span of 12 months, Mumbai, that has a serious dearth of space, is likely to get 52 open spaces. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to acquire 113 reserved plots for road-widening, primary health care centres and open spaces. Of the 113 plots, 52 have been proposed for parks, gardens and playgrounds.
The civic body has made a budgetary provision of Rs 300 crore and the amount is to be utilised in the financial year 2011-2012.
Currently, the city has only 0.03 acres of open space for every 1,000 people. This means every Mumbaiite has just 1.95 square metres of open space. The international standard is 11 square metres.
“We will initiate the process of acquiring these plots, but it will take some time to get possession,” said an official from the development plan department on the condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
He said the civic body should continue the process of acquisition to get back the plots before the reservation on them lapses.