Corporators: Had no say in drafting open spaces policy

BJP, Congress corporators say only people's views were considered; add that private parties will grab public places through it

Corporators: Had no say in drafting open spaces policy

The policy is yet to be approved by the civic commissioner. Representation pic

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now facing opposition from corporators for its open spaces policy. Corporators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have claimed that their opinion was not taken when the policy was drafted after taking into consideration public views. They also fear private parties will grab public space through this policy and said it was not a good move.

The policy is yet to be approved by the civic commissioner and if there are suggestions from corporators, they will be incorporated, said officials. As the civic body is already facing financial issues, the policy will cut down civic expenses on garden maintenance.

'Commercial exploitation'

The new open spaces policy aims to bring back the Advanced Locality Management (ALM), Corporate Social Responsibility bodies (CSR) and non-governmental organisations to maintain public open spaces just like in the previous policy, in which they were given on adoption basis. While this open space policy will allow these private players to give out various garden amenities for events, it will lead to commercial exploitation, claimed the corporators. Further there were also claims that the lands would be usurped by the private players and entry would be restricted for the public.

BJP corporator Rohan Rathod, who is also a member of the Improvement Committee where the issue about the open spaces policy was raised, said, "The city needs more and more open spaces and the BMC will come up with a policy like open spaces to help only the private players. The BMC should do their duty and not ask others to maintain the gardens and the policy should not have even been framed."

'No need for such a policy'

Ashraf Azmi, Congress corporator and committee member, said, "The BMC has taken into consideration citizens but not elected representatives. There is no need for such a policy and it is the BMC's duty to give open spaces to the citizens."

However, Chandrashekhar Chore, deputy municipal commissioner (Improvement) said, "It will be incorrect to comment on the policy as it is still to be approved by the authorities and is still a draft. But it is important to understand that when the activities are given out to CSR bodies or ALMs, it will help save the expenditure of the BMC."

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