BMC clears 20 proposals in one go amid protests
Mumbai: Twenty proposals were approved by the general body in the BMC House without discussion on Monday despite opposition corporators demanding a debate. In protest, opposition members walked out and held a ‘parallel House’ outside the civic corporation meeting hall at the headquarters, where they discussed and rejected the proposals while objecting to what they termed as arbitrary functioning of the civic administration led by BJP and Shiv Sena .
The proposals, which were earlier cleared by the civic improvements committee, were tabled as urgent business before the House. These included the proposed privatisation of SevenHills Hospital, the leasing of 15 acres of Mulund dumping ground land to Dharavi Redevelopment Project for five years, changing the reservation of a sports complex in Mulund to that of a petrol pump, cancelling the reservation of a 1,840sqm garden plot in Andheri’s Ambivli and rezoning it for residential use, and leasing the Century Mills land in Lower Parel to a private developer for 30 years.
Ashraf Azmi, Congress’s group leader in BMC, opposed the proposed lease of the 6.2-acre Century Mills land to Peddar Realty Ltd, alleging that the property’s development potential has not been adequately valued. He claimed BMC’s valuation of the land was revised from Rs 1,822 crore to Rs 1,641 crore and finally to Rs 1,348 crore, while Peddar Realty’s winning bid of Rs 1,351 crore was only Rs 3 crore above the reserve price.
He said the land could have significantly higher development potential under applicable FSI provisions, putting the illustrative gross sale/development value under a 5-FSI scenario at nearly Rs 13,000 crore. He stressed that this was not an estimate of profit, and questioned why BMC had not transparently assessed the full development potential before granting a long-term lease.
Kishori Pednekar , leader of the opposition and former mayor, on Tuesday urged BMC chief Ashwini Bhide to withhold the implementation of the approved proposals, alleging that using its “numerical majority”, the governing side pushed “anti-public interest” proposals through without allowing the opposition adequate discussion.
Pednekar claimed opposition corporators had sought detailed discussion and amendments, besides requesting mayor Ritu Tawde to defer the proposals in public interest. She alleged that the opposition’s objections were not adequately considered and that the manner in which the proceedings were conducted undermined democratic values. “Passing such proposals using numerical strength, without addressing the concerns raised by the opposition, is against public interest,” she said.
The proposals, which were earlier cleared by the civic improvements committee, were tabled as urgent business before the House. These included the proposed privatisation of SevenHills Hospital, the leasing of 15 acres of Mulund dumping ground land to Dharavi Redevelopment Project for five years, changing the reservation of a sports complex in Mulund to that of a petrol pump, cancelling the reservation of a 1,840sqm garden plot in Andheri’s Ambivli and rezoning it for residential use, and leasing the Century Mills land in Lower Parel to a private developer for 30 years.
Ashraf Azmi, Congress’s group leader in BMC, opposed the proposed lease of the 6.2-acre Century Mills land to Peddar Realty Ltd, alleging that the property’s development potential has not been adequately valued. He claimed BMC’s valuation of the land was revised from Rs 1,822 crore to Rs 1,641 crore and finally to Rs 1,348 crore, while Peddar Realty’s winning bid of Rs 1,351 crore was only Rs 3 crore above the reserve price.
He said the land could have significantly higher development potential under applicable FSI provisions, putting the illustrative gross sale/development value under a 5-FSI scenario at nearly Rs 13,000 crore. He stressed that this was not an estimate of profit, and questioned why BMC had not transparently assessed the full development potential before granting a long-term lease.
Kishori Pednekar , leader of the opposition and former mayor, on Tuesday urged BMC chief Ashwini Bhide to withhold the implementation of the approved proposals, alleging that using its “numerical majority”, the governing side pushed “anti-public interest” proposals through without allowing the opposition adequate discussion.
Pednekar claimed opposition corporators had sought detailed discussion and amendments, besides requesting mayor Ritu Tawde to defer the proposals in public interest. She alleged that the opposition’s objections were not adequately considered and that the manner in which the proceedings were conducted undermined democratic values. “Passing such proposals using numerical strength, without addressing the concerns raised by the opposition, is against public interest,” she said.
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