The repeal of the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act (Ulcra) may increase the city’s housing stock, but it will stretch its already creaking infrastructure.
The development boom post-Ulcra repeal could stretch city’s infrastructure
MUMBAI: Mumbai could be in for a major overload. The repeal of the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act (Ulcra) may increase the city’s housing stock, but it will stretch its already creaking infrastructure.
The freeing up of several thousand acres of land for development will lead to more construction activity, putting pressure on the supply of power and water besides roads and the sewerage network.
Mayor Shubha Raul couldn’t agree more. “The new homes will mean more population. The municipal water supplied to the city is already inadequate. So are the road and sewerage networks. The population addition will only add to the citizen’s woes,” she said. “The infrastructure should have been first put in place before repealing the act,” she added.
Senior civic officials also felt population estimates used to design infrastructure projects will have to be reworked.
While conceding the infrastructure strain, additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev said low income houses created in the freed land will reduce the population in the city’s slums, ensuring efficient implementation of civic services. “Many slums presently are not sewer connected and lack civic amenities. If the slum dwellers are accommodated in new low income homes, the delivery of the civic services will be better.” But does this take into account the daily inflow of migrants seeking their El Dorado?
BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said freeing the land would allow BMC to develop land reservations more efficiently.
Municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak said the repeal would raise the quality of life in the city. He said the BMC would survey the areas that would witness largescale development and provide additional infrastructure accordingly.
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