To implement DP-2034, BMC chief asks for amenities’ list from 24 wards on priority

TAKING FORWARD the effort of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to integrate the implementation of the Development Plan (DP) with budgetary allocations, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has asked assistant municipal commissioners of all 24 wards to prepare a priority list of amenities each region requires.

The budget estimates for 2019-20 presented on Monday include an allocation of Rs 3,323.64 crore for implementation of DP 2034.

After the BMC lost a plot measuring 13,674 sq m in Jogeshwari as its reservation lapsed, the municipal commissioner also asked ward officers to give special attention to acquisition of reserved plots and to submit a separate list of such plots.

The plot in Majas, Jogeshwari, was reserved for a recreation ground and hospital in the 1991 DP. However, civic officials failed to acquire it, despite the owner having issued a purchase notice to the BMC. When the municipality tried to acquire the plot after the deadline had lapsed, the owner moved court. The Bombay High Court ruled that the civic body had not declared its intention to acquire the plot.

This year, budgetary provisions have been made for development of amenities, including playgrounds, gardens, dispensaries, hospitals, cemeteries, homeless shelters and fire stations, among others. The money will be allocated to every ward according to a list and based on achievable targets, Mehta told The Indian Express.

The BMC merged the 20-year-plan with the Budget for the first time in the 2017-18 Budget estimates. In 2017-18, the civic body allocated Rs 2,102 crore and proposed to develop 142 amenities, of which 53 were completed. The civic body had spent Rs 428.36 crore by March 2018.

In the next budget, 47 works were proposed with a separate provision of Rs 2,665 crore. The civic body has spent Rs 650.27 crore as of January 19.

The BMC’s track record with DP implementation has been poor over the decades. Only 19 per cent of the 1964 DP and 33 per cent of the 1991 DP were implemented. Most of the reservations from the 1991 DP have been continued in the 2034 DP as well.