Mumbai: Mulund society sees red over green marking in Development Plan

The building is a ground-plus-three-storey structure made in 1979 and registered as co-operative housing society in 1982, that houses 16 members

The revised draft Development Plan (RDDP) 2034, which is going to be sanctioned by the state government soon, has given sleepless nights to the residents of Arun co-operative housing society in Mulund East. In the recently uploaded online DP maps, the building has been marked in green, which indicates it as an open space. To the dismay of the society members, the building does not have a pink line either, which is used to show it as a part of the Excluded Plan (EP), thus making it eligible for hearings being conducted by the deputy director of town planning. The residents say the redevelopment plan of the building is suffering due to this reservation.

1991 grouse
The building is a ground-plus-three-storey structure made in 1979 and registered as co-operative housing society in 1982, that houses 16 members. The members have previously complained that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had reserved their plot as an open space in the 1991 DP. The residents didn't know about this until 2004, but once they got to know, they approached BMC to remove this reservation. In response, the civic officials kept telling them they'd get a chance to raise their issues once the new DP is in place.

The residents say the redevelopment plan of the building is suffering due to this reservation. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

Green again
It is now 2018. The new DP is being drafted since the past four years. When the first DP, published in 2015 was scrapped by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the building's reservation as an open space was deleted. But in the RDDP, that came in 2016, the reservation was restored. After a hearing undertaken by the planning committee, the reservation of open space was recommended for deletion. Despite this, the latest maps have painted the society green, indicating it as an open space once again. Advocate D R Pathak, a member of the society, said, "This is how we've been harassed by the authorities time and again. And the worst part is that we're now not being given a chance to be heard as well. When the building was standing before the 1991 DP, how could BMC put an open space reservation on it? And now that the planning committee has heard our case and found it to be genuine and thus recommended deleting the reservation, then it is the state officials who are harassing us."

Retired assistant commissioner of police, Vijay Joshi, who is the secretary of the society, said, "Why are we marked in green and why is no EP written next to our plot's CTS number? We've been writing to the authorities, but there has been no positive change. We do not want to lose our land under reservation, especially because it's a structure that has been existing even before the 1991 DP was finalised."

The other side
DP officials said that according to an instruction from the CM, suggestions of the planning committee to delete reservations of open space were not accepted. However, these would be counted in EP and the citizens will be given a chance to be heard, they said. An official involved with this process said, "Firstly, if there is reservation on the plot, it doesn't mean they won't be able to redevelop. They can surely redevelop, after handing over a part of their land to BMC as an amenity, in lieu of which they'll be compensated with FSI. Secondly, all the recommendations that are not accepted, as the residents claimed, will be in the EP, maps where they will be heard." The deputy director of town planning, Uttareshwar Londhe who is taking the hearings of the citizens, was not available for comment.

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