Mumbai: BMC's new DP has development plots marked on nullahs

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It's been a fortnight since BMC enforced the city's revised development plan (DP), but urban planners are not convinced about it. In a letter they had sent to the municipal commissioner last month, they had pointed out mistakes the civic body made while allotting plots for development.

The most intriguing error of them is that some plots have been marked on nullahs, which the planners fear might have been considered as land available for development. Urban Planner Akhtar Chauhan and Architect David Cardos had written to Commissioner Ajoy Mehta asking him to rectify the errors. The letter mentions that as part of the DP, plots have been marked on Mogara nullah at Andheri West and near Anik Depot in Chembur. "The mistakes may appear to be an oversight but we have to ensure that the open spaces and natural reserves are protected. The commissioner has the power to correct these errors and they should be done," said Akhtar.

Barring the nullahs, the letter also points out that certain gardens have been marked as traffic islands. Pankaj Joshi, a conservation architect and executive officer of the Urban Design Research Institute said, "If an open space is marked as a traffic island, then tomorrow it's (the garden) dimensions can be modified if a road has to be widened."

Mehta said the errors pertaining to the nullah were being corrected, but mentioned that there have been no mistakes in marking the open spaces. "If traffic islands are marked as gardens then the process of changing its dimensions for a road-widening project becomes long. It was a conscious decision to mark the traffic islands the way it has been done," he added.

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