Civic chief blames errors on colour spilling over DP sheets

MUMBAI: Akhtar Chauhan, an architect, urban planner and educator, and architect David Cardoz wrote to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, pointing out the errors in Development Plan (DP) 2034 in the substantial modification (excluded part) published by the state government.




"We request you to rectify these errors that span across several sheets, and which may lead to misrepresentation, bearing drastic implications on Mumbai," they wrote in the letter.

When contacted, Mehta told TOI that these errors could have cropped up because colour spilled over printing of the DP sheets.

"Some of the errors happened during aligning of these sheets or were genuine textual errors or wrong labelling," he said. The commissioner said he had himself pointed out these mistakes. "They will get corrected," he said.

Cardoz said, "One is not sure if these are genuine errors. Plots shown in the sea are not to be taken lightly. There are serious mistakes in computation and marking of plots. We want the BMC to take cognizance of it so that no one can misuse these markings in future."

A municipal development plan department official said these maps are prepared based on revenue department records. "Every piece of land will have provisions of land use, be it on forest land or anywhere,'' he said, admitting that his department is looking into the concerns raised by the two architects.

Government rules allow the municipal commissioner to pass orders to make corrections to the development plan for such errors.

"These errors, if overlooked, will have serious implications on the city, as these plots could be disputed as developable land and claims for reclamation of such plots could be detrimental, and hence must be corrected immediately," said the two architects.