MAHARASHTRA: BMC FOR MUMBAI
While presenting the Rs 39,039 crore budget of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for 2021-22—the largest ever in the corporation’s history and 17 per cent higher than the previous year—on February 3, commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal brought up a longstanding demand of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. He proposed that the state government appoint the BMC as the sole planning authority for Mumbai to speed up development of infrastructure in the metropolis. Thackeray, as Shiv Sena chief, had raised the demand way back in 2007 when his party was in opposition in the state assembly.
In the hands of multiple agencies,
Mumbai’s development has been a complex affair. At present, at least five agencies of the state government and four of the Centre are involved in the city’s planning. According to the Greater Mumbai Draft Development Plan 2034, these agencies have a major say in eight prominent areas within the city limits. The MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Development Authority) is designated as the special planning authority for the Backbay Reclamation Area, Wadala Truck Terminal, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Gorai-Uttan Tourism Zone and the area surrounding Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The MMRDA is also the nodal agency for key infrastructure projects, such as the Mumbai Metro, Mumbai Monorail, Mumbai Urban Transport Project and Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project.
Similarly, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is in charge of the Marol Industrial Area and Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone Special Economic Zone. MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) is responsible for the Rs 26,000 crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project while the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) works to provide residents of the city’s slums pucca homes.
Apart from these agencies, the Union defence ministry, Mumbai Port Trust, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Indian Railways are caretakers of land in their possession. Above all, Maharashtra’s urban development department has the right to modify the development rules framed by these multiple agencies.
The maze of agencies often leaves Mumbai’s residents confused. They might, for instance, complain to the BMC about potholes on vital roads when these fall under the jurisdiction of the MMRDA. Senior bureaucrat Ajoy Mehta whom Thackeray, as chief minister, first appointed as his principal advisor and recently made chief of the MahaRERA, had in 2016 backed the idea of the BMC being made the sole planning agency. Mehta was the BMC commissioner at the time.
In his budget speech, Chahal pointed to the anomalies in the multiagency system for Mumbai. “The BMC has no control on the [various planning] authorities despite the fact that it provides all infrastructural facilities, such as water supply, sewerage disposal, roads and street lights. Making the BMC the sole planning authority will allow speedy development and help resolve residents’ grievances through a single window,” the commissioner said.
Chahal believes that planning Mumbai’s development should be the BMC’s job while the execution could be done through the various agencies in their respective areas. To start with, he has proposed that the BMC be declared the sole planning authority for the area between Cuffe Parade and Marine Drive, high-profile localities in south Mumbai currently under the MMRDA. He argues that the integration of local governing bodies, on the lines of Paris, Los Angeles, Barcelona and London, will make Mumbai more livable. But a senior SRA official said making the BMC an integrated planning authority will be disastrous as the civic body may stall sanctioning of funds for slum redevelopment.
The timing of the BMC commissioner’s proposal, though, is curious as three of Mumbai’s key development agencies—MMRDA, MHADA and MIDC—are currently governed by Shiv Sena ministers Eknath Shinde, Uday Samant and Subhash Desai, respectively. In a way, Thackeray has direct control over these agencies. Accepting Chahal’s proposal would mean the chief minister ceding control.
A Shiv Sena leader says that if the BMC gets absolute say over Mumbai’s planning, it will help the party strengthen its base in the city. “Holding power in the state will not be a thing forever, but power in the BMC is definitely something the Sena can stake claim to for a long time,” says the leader, citing the example of the Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai’s southern tip now known for the scam-ridden Adarsh housing society, where the state government plans to construct a garden by reclaiming 300 acres in the Arabian Sea. Getting control over the area will allow the BMC to develop the garden as per its own ideas.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, the Sena’s partners in the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), are divided on the idea. While NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said it is “not a bad idea” to have a centralised agency like the BMC run the city, Mumbai Congress president Ashok Jagtap rejected the proposal as impractical. Now that Chahal has aired the idea again, it will be interesting to see if and how the chief minister follows through.