Mumbai: Four years on, MMRDA still preparing MU campus master plan

The master plan to make the Kalina campus of Mumbai University MU a worldclass one seems to be moving at a snailrsquos pace and nobody including the varsity administration seems to be bothered by thisAccording to an RTI reply the infrastructure development plan mooted in 2018 with regard to the Vidyanagari campus is still not readyThe Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA was entrusted with preparing the planThe Kalina campus which is spread over 243 acres is currently under the jurisdiction of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC But a government resolution in 2018 selected the MMRDA to help the university with its master planFollowing this on August 28 2019 the MMRDA appointed Delhibased Ms DDF Consultants Pvt Ltd the lead bidder and Ms MODE Design Corp Pvt Ltd the consortium partner to develop a detailed layout master plan and urban design guidelines for a worldclass campusAlso Read Dream Mumbai Dreamers and believers reimagine the blueprint of the cityThe cost estimation of the project mentioned in the letter of intent LOI sent to the above firms was Rs 11270000 excluding GSTMMRDA officials then claimed that the plan would be ready in six months and all that the regulatory body was supposed to do was to collect primary and secondary data by meeting representatives from each department and understanding the requirementsA number of hostels laboratories department buildings and auditoriums are located on the Kalina campus However the institution maintained that the development of the campus over the years had been haphazardldquoOver the years it has developed largely on its own given the availability of large tracts of land but without the visionary benefit of a thorough master plan and such a document to bind the overall campus in an integrated wholerdquo reads the MUrsquos Perspective Plan which emphasises the need for a master planRTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information about the master plan from MMRDA The latterrsquos Public Information Officer Ankita Das in her reply informed Galgali that the process of preparing the said plan was still in progressThe RTI reply also revealed that to date the consultants have been paid Rs 496000Demanding punitive action against the consultants for the delay Galgali said ldquoEven the MMRDA is still not sure when the master plan will be completed In the reply they just mentioned that it is being prepared Also the MU administration is not bothered about what is happening with the plan They have totally shirked their responsibility by handing over it to MMRDA The latter might be the planning authority but MU is the major stakeholderrdquoNeither the MU vicechancellor incharge nor provicechancellor incharge was available for comment Despite reaching out to the MMRDA midday did not receive a reply to its queries till the time of going to press