marina’s articles 02
Interesting news on the tussle to nominate members to the DP suggestion&objection review panel _ SENA WANTS CONG, NOT BJP, ON PANEL | By Chaitanya Marpakwar, Mumbai Mirror | Jun 27, 2016
Another tiff seems to be brewing between the ever-warring ruling alliance partners, Shiv Sena and BJP, over nomination to the all-important committee that will review the suggestions and objections regarding city’s new Development Plan (DP).
While the Sena is set to nominate two corporators standing committee chairman Yashodhar Phanse and its leader in the BMC Trushna Vishwasrao, there is hectic lobbying for the third and last spot on the DP committee. Both the BJP and the Congress are vying for it.
While the BJP with 31 corporators is a partner in the ruling alliance with the Sena, the Congress with 51 corporators is the principal opposition party in the BMC.
The BJP is keen to nominate its leader Manoj Kotak and the Congress Praveen Chheda on the review committee. The BMC had last month published the revised draft DP which has been thrown open to the public.
Citizens have 60 days for sending their suggestions and objections and the deadline ends on July 29. Then, a committee comprising three standing committee members and four experts will be appointed. The state government appointed committee will be led by a top former bureaucrat. They have to mandatorily hear each and every suggestion and objection in 60 days. Soon after, a consolidated report will be made, which will be placed before the civic general body to discuss for approval within 60 days to send to the state government for a final approval.
Both the BJP and the Congress want to make sure that they have a say in the review process. The BMC has already received over 500 suggestions and objections. “The review committee will look at each suggestion and objection and then pass a speaking order on each suggestion and objection. The changes suggested by the BMC corporators will also be reviewed by the committee,” said an official from the Urban Development department.
“As per convention, the Congress should be given the third nomination since it is the second largest party. But the BJP is part of the ruling alliance. It is up to the general body to nominate three corporators. So the Mayor will have to decide after consulting all the parties,” said a senior civic official. While the Shiv Sena is keen on ditching the BJP, a senior Sena corporator said that it might nominate Chheda to further corner the BJP. “We are against many provisions in the DP and so is the Congress. The BJP is completely in favour of the DP. So it will be better if we take the Congress on board so we have support on key issues like opening NDZs and salt pan lands,” the corporator said.
Chheda has written to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta demanding that he be inducted into the review committee. “According to section 28 (2) of the MRTP Act there is no cap on the number of members from the standing committee. They can accommodate all group leaders. It won’t be fair if only ruling party members are taken,” Chheda said.
Article about todays meeting with future architects and planners at NGMA _ In a first, students to be part of city planning | DNA CORRESPONDENT | Sat, 2 Jul 2016-07
For the first time ever, students will be participating in the process of city planning.
At least 250 graduates, masters and PhD students will participate in a seminar to understand the process of formulation, interpretation and implementation of Mumbai’s Development Plan (DP) 2014-34. These students will also compete among each other by making presentations. Creative ideas put forward by them will be considered as suggestions for the new DP.
Observer Research Foundation, a research-based organisation, has arranged for an interactive seminar at National Gallery for Modern Art on Saturday. The session will also have exhibition of posters and maps about the DP.
Ramnath Jha, officer on special duty, appointed by the state government for making corrections in the draft DP will explain the students about the process of preparing the mammoth document for the next 20 years to help the city’s planning.
Observer Research Foundation has been closely working with city planners and architects to understand the revised draft DP. It also points out lacunae in the document and helps create awareness about the same.
50 groups ally to send Mumbai DP views | Tanushree Venkatraman, Hindustan Times | Jul 16, 2016
Days before the deadline, close to 50 citizen groups are expected to submit their suggestions/objections on the draft Development Plan (DP) 2034 on July 20.
The citizen groups, including NGOs, academic institutions, slum-dwellers, fishing communities and street vendors, will be presenting their letters en masse to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The Hamara Shehar Mumbai Abhiyaan (HSMA), which will be conducting the drive, will also be sending eight “non-negotiable demands” to the BMC on the same day. The HSMA has been conducting consultative workshops on the plan for the past two months.
The citizens’ groups involved in the en masse drive include Pratham, Akshara Foundation, Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
The revised DP was released on May 28, following which, it has been put out for public scrutiny for 60 days. The final date for submitting suggestions/objections is July 29, 2016.
BMC, till Thursday, has received 2,192 number of suggestions/objections. Of these, 386 are from the island city, 587 from the eastern and 1,059 from the western suburbs.
Hussain Indorewala, assistant professor at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi College of Architecture, who has been collaborating with HSMA said the group, had undertaken a similar drive when the earlier DP was released.
“We had submitted more than 20,000 objections to the BMC. We are bringing the opinions of all the stakeholders we have interacted with on the same platform. The plan has huge issues that have to be addressed before it is passed,” Indorewala said.
Following a public outcry over the earlier draft, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked the BMC to revise the blueprint.
HSMA, in its non-negotiable demands, will be asking for inclusion of the concept of local area plans (LAPs) for slums and urban villages, an idea presented in the earlier draft.
It will also be demanding that slums be marked as special zones of social interest for its development. HSMA has also asked for allocating more amenities in areas that have large number of low-income populations.
“We are calling it non-negotiable because we do not want the plan to be passed without these demands,” said Purva Dewoolkar from HSMA.
BMC receives few objections
In comparison to 2,192 suggestions and objections, the BMC had received 50,000 suggestions and objections for its earlier draft released in February 2015
Officials say the lesser number of objections can be attributed to the BMC releasing the revised draft in four phases earlier
A senior official said, “Many citizens had already filed their observations when the plan was released in phases earlier.”
What is the city’s development plan?
The development plan (DP) is a 20-year blueprint of the city’s social and physical infrastructure
According to the revised DP 2034, only 31% of the plans for open spaces made in DP 1991 were implemented
This means less than one-third of the open spaces shown in the DP were created or maintained in the city
Other sectors such as education (36%) and housing (34%) fared better in terms of implementation. However, only 33% of the overall plan was implemented
In case of the DP released in 1964, only 6.93% of the open spaces planned were created and 18% of the plans made for all sectors were executed
The revised DP 2014-34 was released recently. Citizens can send their suggestions and objections by July 29.