DF govt committed to slumless Mumbai

The Democratic Front government on Monday reiterated its commitment to transforming Mumbai into a world class city. In his address to the joint session of the state legislature at Vidahan Bhawan, the governor of Maharashtra SC Jamir outlined the socio-economic and political priorities of the Congress-NCP government.

The 20-page speech highlighted the mega projects in urban and rural Maharashtra undertaken by the administration. It was packaged in a manner to cater to all sectors, thus pressing home his government’s able governance, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

From the Mumbai makeover to alleviating the farmers’ plight in Vidarbha and the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute, the speech addressed varied issues. “The government has launched a scheme for facilitating large-scale urban renewal of old buildings through its cluster approach. The tenants residing in cess buildings will now get a 300 sq ft carpet area free of cost instead of 225 sq ft. Thus, the beneficiary now stands to get one extra room in his/her home,” the governor said. There was also reference to raising the FSI to 2.5 in Thane and Mumbai.

The governor’s speech stressed how Maharashtra has taken the lead in projects sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. “The centre has so far sanctioned 77 projects worth Rs11,478 crore, of which Rs1,814 crore has been released for Maharashtra. Thus, Maharashtra has received about one-third of the total grants sanctioned for all the states.”