Corporators across party lines have demanded better facilities and fast redevelopment for slums across the city in the first general body meeting of the BMC.
MNS corporator Chetan Kadam, who brought the issue under 66 (B), said the redevelopment of most slums is stuck because major portions of many slums have been given non-buildable reservation.
"As a result, the redevelopment process of slums is stuck. The BMC should carry out the existing land use survey of slums. In the new development plan (DP) being prepared, the non-buildable reservations such as playgrounds should be converted to buildable reservations such as schools or welfare centres. Not only will it benefit slums, but the BMC funds reserved for slum development can be used for some other purpose," Kadam said.
Another corporator, on condition of anonymity, said that in the last DP, many private builders in connivance with civic officials have removed reservation from their plot and put it into the slum plot.
Kadam said that if the BMC administration implements it in the next DP, it would benefit at least 25-30 lakh people, currently living in deplorable conditions in city slums.
BJP corporator Dilip Patel from Juhu echoed Kadam's sentiments, saying, "In my area at Prem Nagar, there are slums all over the 10 acre BMC, yet they have not been developed over the years, purely due to lack of political will."
Congress corporator Mohsin Haider said, "In the new DP, reservations should also be made for police beat chowkies, else they are constructed on the road."
Representing the administration in the house, additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, "The draft of the new DP will be framed by April 2015. We will take into consideration all the suggestions and objections we have received on the same."
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