Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan clears realty projects worth Rs 4,000 crore in 15 days

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has cleared 160 individual development project files and taken major housing policy decisions, worth over Rs 4,000 crore, in the last 15 days. Not just that, the state government did so by glossing over a mandatory rule that calls for the provision of tenements to the economically weaker, if redevelopment is taking place on a plot of 4,000 sq m or above.

Chavan also cleared a file that made almost all of Chembur heritage-free, leaving out only the St Anthony's Church, the Jain temple, Leoprosy home in Trombay and some bungalows in Deulwadi.

This speed at which Chavan has cleared these files contradicts his earlier stand of keeping builders at bay. The clearing of files at record speed, predictably, failed to impress the BJP. It alleged that most of the transaction amount is likely to be used as party funds for Congress candidates during the upcoming assembly elections on October 15. The BJP said it will relook the files, if voted to power. Chavan was unavailable for comment.

What are the files that were cleared?
Among the major files to be cleared were the ones relating to cluster development, slum rehabilitation policy for Thane and floor space index (FSI) of 2.5 for Navi Mumbai.

Is the decision loaded in favour of developers?
The rules mandate that if redevelopment is taking place on a plot of 4,000 sq m or above, tenements will have to provided for the economically weaker section. However, while clearing the 160 files, this clause was not considered. According to real-estate experts, "the (mandatory) decision would have created sufficient affordable housing stocks for Mhada but developers' profit margins would have been slashed. Now, developers will be benefited a lot. "

What's the BJP's argument?
Vinod Tawade, senior BJP leader, told dna: "By clearing files hurriedly before the election code of conduct sets in, Chavan has raised the required party fund. We will reopen all these decisions if we come to power."

What are builders saying?
Obviously they are happy. Sunil Mantri, president of the apex developers' body, NAREDCO, told dna: "I expect elections every three months, so that no files get stuck. Most files have been pending for several months. Thanks to the elections, they were cleared."

What if the BJP reopens the files?
A prominent developer from South Mumbai told dna that chief minister Chavan might have raised funds for his party, but it also benefited developers. "We are worried that the BJP is saying it will reopen files, if voted to power. If that happens, we will lose our money and our projects will be delayed. To get the files cleared again, we have to pay again."

Following a long-drawn fight carried out by residents and developers of Chembur, the 'heritage precinct' tag has finally gone off the eastern suburb, in a huge relief to Chembur residents. Only a day ago, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan cleared the file, making almost all of Chembur heritage free, leaving out only St Anthony's Church, the Jain temple, Leoprosy home in Trombay and some bungalows in Deulwadi.

The process would have been further delayed by over two months, if Chavan had failed to clear the file before the poll code of conduct which started on Friday. What's more, even the Gaothan area of the suburb has been cleared off the heritage tag. A government regulation (GR) will soon be issued on this.

Chembur residents came to know of the development on Friday evening. "For the past 13 months, the development process was completely stalled in Chembur, which has many dilapidated structures. Many of them needed immediate repair and redevelopment. Even minor repair work and wall painting required the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee nod. But thankfully, justice has been served and it's a huge relief for us," said Yashodhan Sandu, a resident.

Members of Chembur Citizens Forum said the MLA of the area, Chandrakant Handore has been instrumental in getting this done. "He has been pushing the issue for a long time. Chembur residents were feeling deprived, since the suburb was wrongly put into heritage precinct, when it did not any particular heritage characteristic," a resident said.

When Chembur residents first came to know that the area will be included into heritage precinct, an association called Chembur Citizens Forum filed a writ petition with the Bombay high court. The high court on March 27, this year, had ordered that in two months, a review committee should be formed which will study the area and come out with a report on this. "Since it was an in depth review, the BMC had sought a time extension," a forum member said.

Subsequently, a review committee headed by former state chief secretary Dinesh Afzalpurkar took suggestion/objections of the residents and compiled a report to strike off more than 500 buildings off the heritage list in Chembur. The report was then sent to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte.

After giving his inputs, Kunte had recently forwarded the report to the state urban development department.

Sources say the UD department then sent the file to Town Planning department for their remarks, which after carrying out site visits, gave their views and the file was once again forwarded to the UD department.
"After a detailed meeting of the UD department with all other departments concerned, the file reached the chief minister, who finally cleared it a day ago," said a source.
"The move is significant for the senior citizens, who from a major part of the Chembur population. It will save them a lot of trouble," Dhiraj Gala, another resident said.