Opposition parties have written to the civic chief to bring back the proposal in the improvement committee, as the city would lose another open space to real estate developers.
At a time when Mumbai suffers from a serious dearth of open spaces, the civic body's improvement committee has rejected proposals to acquire six plots measuring around 40,000 sq.metres of space reserved for schools and playgrounds. The estimated cost of these plots would be around Rs 4,000 crore.
Opposition parties have written to the civic chief to bring back the proposal in the improvement committee, as the city would lose another open space to real estate developers. The plots measure between 2,000 sq.metres and 11,000 sq.metres.
Ravi Raja, a Congress corporator and leader of Opposition in the BMC, slammed the Shiv Sena for rejecting proposals on grounds of encroachment. "The BMC has acquired several plots in the past that were encroached upon," said Raja, adding that there is a provision in the Act that encroached plots are bought at prices below the ready reckoner rate.
The Shiv Sena-ruled improvement committee had also rejected a proposal to acquire a plot in Kurla that was reserved for a garden last month on grounds of encroachment. However, it received severe criticism, and finally the proposal was brought back in the corporation and was passed.
Of the six plots, five are located in Poisar in Kandivali while one is located in Borivali. "Three plots are reserved for schools, while two are for playgrounds," said Raja.
Dilip Lande, chairman of the improvement committee, said that they decided on rejecting the proposals after listening to all the members. "All the members present echoed in one voice that the owners of the plot should remove encroachments themselves and then bring forward the proposal," said Lande, adding that his party is clear to get all open plots in the city.
PRIME LAND
There are a total of six plots which could have been acquired, of which five are located in Poisar in Kandivali, while one is located in Borivali. Officials said the lands will be acquired once they are clear of encroachments
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