When Prithviraj Chavan took over as chief minister more than a year ago, the catchphrase in property circles was ‘cluster redevelopment.’ But nearly a year after it got the BMC’s in-principle approval, the redevelopment of Bhendi Bazaar, the chief minister’s pet Rs2,000 crore project, remains stuck in the corridors of the corporation.
The project was said to have the potential to change the face of South Mumbai and set the trend for the rest of the city. But now, builders say that approvals of at least 58 bodies — both central and state — are yet to be acquired, and that without these, construction cannot begin.
If this is the case with the chief minister’s pet project, one can only imagine the plight of the other projects. The state government is said to have referred the Kalbadevi project files to the BMC on ostensibly flimsy grounds. The Rs21,000 crore Dharavi redevelopment project too is yet to take off.
There are no clear guidelines on what exactly the government’s plans for these projects are. Just to quote one instance, the changes in the BMC’s development control rules led to further confusion, drawing the ire of the Bombay high court. With the mere clearance of official formalities taking two to four years and with no clarity on how things will progress, builders argue, who will step forward to undertake such projects?
It is understandable that the chief minister is keen on maintaining his clean image and does not want to rush into things, and it is certainly nobody’s case that caution be thrown to the wind, but is that enough reason to stall development initiatives in a city that is fast crumbling under its own weight?
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