Over 20 per cent of the land in the city is being held captive by various ministries of the Union govt like civil aviation, railways, defence and urban development.
Mumbai wants its 5,000 acres back from the Union government. Now.
Over 20 per cent of the land in the city is being held captive by various ministries of the Union government like civil aviation, railways, defence and urban development.
Various projects related to slum rehabilitation and reconstruction of dilapidated buildings is pending for the Centre’s approval for over 10 years.
State Housing Secretary Rama Rao and Urban Development Secretary Nana Patil highlighted the lack of Centre’s initiative to help Mumbai when they met National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) Director M Rajamani.
A delegation lead by urban development ministry was here on Tuesday and Wednesday. They hold the Centre responsible for its failure to take the initiative in addressing problems of slum relocation.
Government statistics indicate the land available with Mumbai is 437sq km. Of which the total land occupied in the city is approximately 69 sq km, suburbs 210 sq km and 158 sq km for extended suburbs.
According to a senior secretary, the Mumbai Port Trust has over 2,000 acres. The Ministry of Defence owns over 1,000 acres and the Ministry of Urban Development (salt pans) has more than 200 acres.
The land along the railway tracks running through the western and central suburbs is held by the Union railway ministry. The Ministry of Civil Aviation also holds more than 100 acres in the western suburbs.
According to Special Projects Secretary Sanjay Ubale, 60 per cent of the city’s population lives either in slums or one room tenements.
Rajamani assured that the urban development ministry would play the role of a nodal agency. He said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh should take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
According to the guidelines of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JN-NURM) scheme, funds for city’s development would be released only if the state met the demand of providing the basic infrastructure and amenities-housing, sanitation and water to the poor.
The state city development plan proposal has sought Rs38,000 crore from the Union government for the development of five model townships in Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Nanded and Pune within seven years.
Urging the Centre to take a practical approach towards the problems of Mumbai, the state officials emphasised the non-availability of land in the city.
The officials argued that several acres under the port trust and the salt pans cannot be undertaken for development as the Centre did not respond positively.
A secretary said, “Almost 5,000 dilapidated buildings could not be reconstructed as the Centre has not given its approval even though the demand has been pending for the last three years. There are a total of 19,000 dilapidated buildings that require reconstruction.”
The state also expressed its helplessness in tackling the encroachment along the local railway tracks.
State officials say that often steps taken by the government invited protests and public litigations delayed their schemes.
So far, the slum relocation and houses for the poor have been carried out on land owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
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