"We are very happy to hear this. Had they gone ahead, it would have been very difficult to retrieve what we would have lost," said Dolphy D'Souza, chairman of the Bombay Catholic Sabha.
Mumbaikars have wholeheartedly welcomed the government's decision to scrap the draft development plan. The 2014-34 DP had come for all-round criticism as it had bulldozed its way through open spaces, institutions and heritage precincts.
"We are very happy to hear this. Had they gone ahead, it would have been very difficult to retrieve what we would have lost," said Dolphy D'Souza, chairman of the Bombay Catholic Sabha.
Residents said they now hope that all the negatives of the plan don't come back in different forms. "Our biggest apprehension is that they will come up again. Citizens are not supposed to keep pointing out issues. Parking space was reduced and there was no waste management in place. The Residential-Commercial and Commercial-Residential reservation should be completely scrapped. Even if there are different electric meters, there are common areas and these will only create trouble for people. There should also be a clear demarcation of open spaces that can be used by common people and those that are exclusive, like clubs," said Rajkumar Sharma, a resident of Chembur.
Citizens reiterated the desire for the DP to have a clear plan for the city. "As no thought had gone into it, it ended up becoming a disaster plan. They gave an FSI of 5 near railway station, saying people will go by train when there was no transport plan in place," said Nikhil Desai, a resident of F-north ward, who was part of the protest in Dadar-Matunga area.
"The plan would have only deteriorated the quality of life of citizens. We are thankful to the chief minister that he understood what we were saying," said Willie Shirsat, a resident of Dahisar, who had led a protest march through catholic community and parishes.
With a number of religious and educational institutions let out, people said the new plan should tackle all of it. "It was a wise decision to scrap it. Road were cutting through orphanages, colleges and religious places. The latter were sometimes not even shown in the DP. They should resolve that," said Dr Zahir Kazi, president of Anjuman-I-Islam that runs several schools and colleges.
However, there are some who have expressed doubt over the civic body coming up with a better plan in the coming months.
"What they could not do perfectly in three years, how can they do it in four months? There are too many nitty-gritties to be worked out. The draft DP was flawed in every aspect. Those who have done this should be asked to rework it," said Madhu Poplai, secretary of Pali Hill Residents Association.
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