Opposition parties hail scrapping of Mumbai Development Plan

Congress and NCP on Tuesday hailed Maharashtra government's decision to scrap the Mumbai Development Plan 2034, calling it a victory of the people, while the MNS, AAP as well as the city unit of BJP called for action against officials responsible for 'errors' in the DP.

Also read: Controversial Development Plan for Mumbai scrapped by state govt

The BJP-led government on Tuesday scrapped the contentious Plan and asked the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to prepare a fresh plan within four months. "The DP was aimed at helping builders and was passed by the general body of the MCGM, which is ruled by Shiv Sena-BJP," Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant alleged.

He said that the saffron combine's plans were 'foiled' by the people of the city. Expressing doubts if the fresh DP would be prepared in time, the Congress leader said, "the DP would have taken Mumbai to destruction."

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said his party would keep a close watch on the preparation of the new DP. Lauding the state government for its decision to scrap the controversial DP, MNS chief Raj Thackeray demanded that action be taken against those involved in the formulation of the plan.

"I congratulate the state government for scrapping this plan, which was strongly opposed by the people and had more demerits than merits. We are not against development but, it cannot happen at the cost of lives. Now, the state needs to take action against all those, who were involved in the making of this plan. These are the people who waste public money and get away easily," Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.

Attributing the scrapping of the DP to the residents of Mumbai, Thackeray said, the plan would have been passed by the state if there were no extensive campaign against it. "This plan was prepared during the reign of the Congress and NCP. I fail to understand on which basis it was made. But even the Sena-BJP (in the MCGM) should not have approved the plan. We will welcome a new reworked plan. But, it is important that everybody's views are taken into account while drafting the fresh one," he said.

Stating that the chief minister has given justice to Mumbaikars by scrapping the plan, Mumbai city unit chief of BJP, Ashish Shelar, said, "Those responsible for the mistakes in the DP, should be exposed." The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hailed the government on its move, but cautioned it to pull up officials responsible for the errors in the DP.

"It is laudable that the Chief Minister has ultimately scrapped the proposal. But he should also take the officers concerned to task for wasting public money," Ravi Srivastav, a member of AAP's State Executive Committee, said.

Sunil Sharma, spokesperson of Affordable Housing Welfare Organisation of India (AHWOI), said, "This is the result of anger of common people that was timely sensed by the CM." AHWOI had held a month-long programme to sensitise slum-dwellers about the 'catastrophic effect' of the DP.

Yesterday it had organised a protest rally at Azad Maidan and submitted a presentation to Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte, elaborating the 'ill-effects' of the development plan.