Opposition creates ruckus in BMC over open space policy

The opposition parties in the BMC – including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the NCP — on Monday raised strong objections to the interim open space policy being approved recently by the ruling party Shiv Sena without any debate.

The interim policy allows citizens and groups to maintain the city’s open spaces for a contractual period of 11 months. But the proposal has run into strong opposition as the civic body is yet to take possession of all the 216 plots designated as open spaces. Out of the 216 plots, 30 are yet to be reclaimed by the BMC and are controlled by politicians and big organisations.

Rais Shaikh, the group leader of the Samajwadi Party, accused the Sena of cheating Mumbaikars by adopting the interim policy without any discussion. Shaikh said, “The interim policy will be beneficial only for elite areas and big organisations, as small NGOs and other such outfits do not fit into the Sena’s scheme of things. The policy is clearly skewed in the favour of the influential. Also, those plots which have not been reclaimed by the BMC from politicians and organisation can be retained by the latter by simply making an application.”

Leader of Opposition (LOP) and Congress corporator Ravi Raja remarked, “The interim open space policy is tilted in favour of the Sena and the BJP which control most of the open plots in Mumbai; therefore, they are keeping quite. But we will soon file a petition in the Bombay High Court and seek to get the policy revoked. The BMC has a huge budget and they can themselves maintain the open spaces.”

The civic officer from the BMC must ensure that the plots do not go to land sharks but instead the corporation has a complete control over it. The entry to the open space should be free of cost and there should non-discriminatory access. Also, the timings should be as per BMC guidelines.