Mumbai: ‘Why allow pvt individuals to possess open spaces?’

With the new open space plan of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) becoming the talk of the town, here's where political parties, activists and other stakeholders stand on the draft Recreation Grounds and Playgrounds (RG-PG) policy.

In general, Mumbaikars and activists have opposed the draft policy, which was released on Friday, and have sought information about a lot of its aspects.

Congress and Samajwadi Party have opposed it tooth and nail, questioning the unnecessary hurry to finalise the policy as well as its basic premise of adoption and renting out of open spaces. Neither the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor Shiv Sena (UBT) have voiced their view on the policy as yet.

Senior Congress functionary and former Opposition leader Ravi Raja slammed the draft, saying, "Why give private institutions/individuals the possession of our city's open spaces? This decision is not at all in the interest of Mumbaikars, but of the municipal corporation. It seems that this decision is being taken for the benefit of some individuals and organisations. If the municipal corporation can spend R1,700 crore on beautification, it can certainly spend on maintaining and utilising plots."

He added, "It is not appropriate for the administrator, who is technically in charge temporarily, to make such an important decision when the municipality has been dissolved. What exactly is the rush for the civic administrators to finalise this policy? Instead, let the elected representatives make the appropriate decision after the civic elections. The Congress party is against this arbitrary decision," Raja added.

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"The BMC seems to have all the money for all projects, except when it comes to maintaining its own open spaces. If the civic body can spend a whopping R1,700 crore on the recently undertaken Mumbai beautification project, why should it have a problem spending money on maintaining grounds and gardens? I don't understand this. If we look at the history of open spaces, it has been noticed that there have been incidents of large-scale encroachment on public land which has been given for adoption and the places have been shut to the public, "Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh, a former party leader in the BMC, said.

He added, "The participation of people's representatives is crucial for making strategic decisions on civic parks, recreation grounds, playgrounds and sidewalks. At present, there are none in the BMC so it is not possible to discuss with people's representatives. Therefore, the BMC should think about this kind of policy after the civic election. The Samajwadi Party strongly opposes the policy of giving entertainment grounds and playgrounds on an adoption basis."

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Kishori Pednekar said the party would soon declare its stand on the policy.

Guardian Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha has called a meeting with the administration and citizens to discuss the policy on September 15 at 4 pm the BMC headquarters.

"Through this meeting, we aim to facilitate an open discussion about the policy, where citizens can voice their opinions and collectively make decisions in the public interest. Our government is here to serve the people, working alongside them, and we are committed to addressing all their concerns and considering their feedback," said Lodha.

Essence of the policy

As per the draft of the policy, BMC is going to maintain grounds by appointing its own contractor. But in some places, it will use an adoption policy to appoint caretakers. In exceptional situations, if the BMC is unable to develop or maintain a ground, it can give it up for adoption

Facts and figures

Currently, there are 52 plots with private parties, which cover an area of 121 acres. These private parties are mainly leaders of all political parties. In 2016, then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis scrapped the BMC's original RG-PG policy after activists had opposed the adoption of grounds.

There are 1,104 recreation grounds and playgrounds, which span 562 hectares in total.