found 06 - revising the development plan

by V.K. Phatak

01] Present Development Plan _ The present Development Plan (DP) of Mumbai was originally prepared for a period 1981-2001. The basic surveys and studies were carried out during 1978 to1982 and the draft Plan was published in mid 80s. The process of hearing suggestions and objections and examination by government was long drawn. The Development Control Regulations (DCR) were approved in 1991 and the Development Plan as such was sanctioned in 1993. The DP was essentially formulated during the pre-liberalization period and its basic tenets were;

• Growth of Mumbai particularly of the Island City be restrained,
• In consonance with state and MMRDA policies no new industries and offices be permitted in Island City,
• Uniform FSI of 1.33 and 1 be prescribed for Island City and Suburbs respectively,
• Land for public purposes be obtained by Transfer of Development rights instead of monetary compensation; and
• In Situ slum redevelopment be promoted by granting FSI up to 2.5.

02] Cumulative Impact of Incremental Changes _ Since 1991, many macro-economic changes occurred. The economic policy became more market oriented, large-scale manufacturing continued to decline, financial services, IT and ITES grew, with improved housing finance demand for housing too increased and in the recent past new infrastructure initiatives took roots. Responses to these have been incremental and largely in terms of changing DCR and not the DP itself. Some of the major developments that have occurred since 1991 are;

• Bandra Kurla Complex instead of being an instrument of decongesting Fort, emerged as a new financial district,
• Industrial areas converted on a large scale into IT and ITES activities e.g. Andheri Kurla Road by exploiting the DCR provisions that perhaps anticipated such change- over only as an exception.
• The DCR provision that was introduced at the time finalizing DCR without changing the DP in respect of textile mills and its amendment in 2001 has led significant new development by way of malls, high income residential development etc.
• 1995 DCR regarding slum rehabilitation has generated significant TDR, which has been used in attractive suburban locations like Bandra West and JVPD. Its continued use is going to spread in the areas earlier prohibited for receiving TDR.
• 1999 changes in DCR allowing bonus FSI for redeveloping cessed buildings has led to sporadic high-rise structures.
• 2001 changes in DCR reduced the area to be shared by the textile mills while redeveloping the mill.

The cumulative impact of all the above initiatives is very complex in terms of infrastructure demand – water, sewerage, roads, parking, open spaces, schools and health care facilities and real estate prices. The DP, when it was prepared, had not anticipated these impacts. If not attended to at the earliest the impacts would be irreversible and deleterious to development.

03] Opportunities _ At the same time some new initiatives in transport sector present opportunities for significant changes in the structure of development by adjusting land use and density (FSI). Some of these are;

• Versova Andheri Ghtakopar mass transit corridor. Apart from Andheri and Ghatkopar, which are at the intersection Western Railway and Central Railway respectively, DN Nagar station is at the intersection of proposed north south corridor of Charkop-Bandra MRT. All the three locations are candidates for major Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Besides these, intermediate stations could also be redeveloped as TODs.
• Charkop-Bandra-Kurla-Mankhurd mass transit corridor. The northern section at Malad passes through an area that is transforming itself as an area for retail, entertainment and ITES. Provision of transit would accentuate the potential for such development. Similarly the section passing through Bandra Kurla Complex could be exploited for mixed use, high density development.
• Similarly MTHL (Sewree – Nhava) bridge if extended up to Worli would offer opportunities for re-planning the entire mill district and northern part of port land Sewree.

04] Revision of Development Plan – Imperatives _ The cumulative impact of responses to changing circumstances and the opportunities presented by transport initiatives provide compelling reasons for undertaking revision of Development Plan without any delay. There is a general impression that a DP need be revised after 20 years of its sanction. It is therefore generally believed that the present DP be revised by 2013. However that is not the case. Section 38 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966 (MR&TP Act) that deals with revision of DP states that “At least once in twenty years from the date on which the DP has come into operation … a Planning Authority may and shall at any time when so directed by the State Government, revise the DP.”

It must, however, be noted with concern that previous DP took almost 17 years consuming 13 years of plan period. Mumbai can ill afford to repeat the same story again. Some of the ways in which the DP preparation time could be kept within reasonable limits are;

• Effective use of high-resolution satellite imageries (e.g. Quick Bird or Ikonos) and the technology of GIS and GPS.
• Use of exhaustive socio economic and travel pattern data base generated by the Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS) undertaken by MMRDA.
• Effective participation of all stakeholders throughout the process of plan making i.e. identification of issues and problems, goals to be pursued and consideration of proposals to deal with the issues and not by way of suggestions and objections to the draft DP prepared in secrecy as is the current practice.

05] New Style Planning _ The old style DP that emphasizes zoning and public purpose reservations is most suited for green-field development. In Mumbai hardly any area is left for green-field development. Most areas crave for redevelopment. In such a case a single broad-brush DP for the entire city is inappropriate. The MR&TP Act 1966 did anticipate such a situation and provided for plans for areas of comprehensive development (section 33) in parallel with preparation of city wide DP.

A two tier planning that includes citywide DP covering broad zoning, arterial road and rail network, areas for environmentally sensitive uses like land fill sites for solid waste disposal etc. and plans for comprehensive development. The planning must therefore start as DP for entire Greater Mumbai and plans for comprehensive development for areas like;

• Precincts of concentration of dilapidated buildings like Null Bazaar, Bhendi Bazaar, Kalbadevi, Girgaum etc
• Mill district broadly spread between Mahalaxmi and Dadar
• TODs at Andheri, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bandra, DN Nagar etc.
• Redevelopment of large slum areas like Dharavi, Golibar (SantaCruz), Shivaji Nagar (Mankhurd) etc.

Two DPs of Mumbai lacked any in-built evaluation system. It was therefore impossible to evaluate the outputs and outcome of the implementation of DP. Evaluation and monitoring system must therefore become a part of the plan results of which are transparently available to citizens.

06] Immediate Steps _ In view of the above Government may immediately direct the BMC to undertake revision of DP including preparation of plans for areas of comprehensive development. BMC may also be directed to constitute a Steering Committee that is represented by all the stakeholders including professionals, civil society, and NGOs to guide the process of planning. BMC does not have in-house manpower to take up such an exercise. BMC must therefore use consultants to carry out various components of the plan. Simultaneously Government must also resolve not to move any modifications to DP or DCR as any further ad-hoc changes in the plan will only frustrate any meaningful planning.