Minister Kadam says he cancelled all meetings of clearance committee to end the nexus between its members and builders
Over 500 residential projects are stuck in the corridors of Mantralaya. The reason? Since April 2015, there has been not a single environment clearance committee meeting. As a result, the development of Mumbai city and its periphery has come to a standstill.
Environment minister Ramdas Kadam clarified that clearance committee officials were hand in glove with developers and to stop this malpractice, "we have cancelled the meetings. But very soon, the committee will start holding the meetings and subsequently clearing the proposals".
Kadam said as per the 2010 environment department circular, the state has the right to reject, submit and prioritise proposals. "In the meantime, the committee hijacked the state's (read minister's) power and started functioning as per their whims and fancies. Therefore, I ordered to cancel all the meetings of the committee till there is clarity on this issue," Kadam added.
A senior government official said that the minister has no right to curtail the committee's power. "Both the committees have been constituted by the central government, so they function independently. Proposals are accepted on the first-come-first-served basis. And as per the minister's order, we can give priority to other proposals," the official said requesting anonymity.
A developer from South Mumbai told dna that they had a lot of expectations, but the new government is messing up the things. "It has been almost six months now since the new government took over. However, still there is no clarity. If this government works like this, then development of the city will come to a grinding halt. We thought that the new government would simplify the procedure but what is happening is just the opposite," the developer said on the condition of anonymity.
Another developer from Thane said earlier they used to pay to the committee to clear their proposals. "If the file goes to the minister, then we will have to grease the palms of many people, which will increase the amount of bribe. It is worrisome. The market is down and, as a result, sales have also gone on a slide. We are really confused whether to continue with this property business. We hope the government will address all these concerns and put the industry back on the rails. Otherwise, we will get into more financial trouble," he rued.
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