The government on Wednesday had to face some heat in the Council over the city’s crumbling infrastructure. In a three-hour-long debate Members of the Legislative Council took jibes at the government and urged it to unveil the city’s new draft development plan (DP) 2034 at the earliest to prevent further collapse of city’s civic services.
Kiran Pawaskar (NCP) said, “The city has many problems right now; its civic services are mostly crumbling, including its garbage collection systems.”
Prasad Lad (BJP) said, “Mumbai’s report card of growth and infrastructure development has got a big zero. The world is wondering if this truly is the financial capital of the country looking at problems of water, garbage and open defecation.”
During the three-hour debate on ‘Mumbai’s infrastructure and civic services’, members sought to know from the government if the city was truly worthy of being called the financial capital of the country. As many as 10 members spoke about what ails Mumbai and blamed the government for failing to publish the DP-2034 on time.
In the absence of the DP-2034, the polices related to affordable homes, construction works in the suburbs, measures to tackle illegal construction, drain and sewer cleaning projects, and redevelopment of dilapidated structures were all stalled indefinitely, members said. “In South Mumbai, no decision has been taken on redevelopment of buildings in the 500 meters vicinity of Arthur Road Jail. Several other societies such as Worli’s Prem Nagar, VP Nagar, Jija Mata Nagar, are all awaiting redevelopment for over 10 years now,” said Pravin Darekar (BJP)
