BMC as a single plan authority

city must have a single planning authority has already been mentioned in the draft Development Plan 2034. As of now, for Mumbai City, apart from the BMC, there are other planning authorities such as MMRDA, MHADA, MIDC, SRA and BPT etc. The mandate of these authorities is to plan the development of the layouts in their possession. There is no control of the BMC on these authorities despite the fact that the corporation is providing all infrastructural facilities -water supply, disposal of sewerage, roads, street lights, SWM services etc. This leads to loss of revenue for the BMC; at the same time, citizens have to suffer any problems arise in infrastructural facilities. The citizens are unable to get solutions as there are multiple planning authorities. If the BMC is assigned as the Single Planning Authority, it will facilitate speedy development and also resolve the problems with regard to infrastructural facilities of citizens residing in these layouts, at a single window." Chahal added, " The corporation has also proposed to the state government that the BMC be declared as a single planning authority for the entire Cuffe Parade and Marine Drive area and the proposal is under consideration of the government of Maharashtra." "Under the BMC Act, it is the corporation's obligatory duty to provide civic infrastructure. So, even if different agencies plan for their respective areas, ultimately they turn to the BMC for infrastructure. Our suggestion is that if the BMC is involved right from the planning stage, then delays can be avoided, infrastructure can be hasslefree and once the project is completed, its integration into the existing network can be smooth. After all, the BMC is the custodian of the Development Control Regulations for the city," said a senior BMC official The draft Development Plan 2034 points to eight special planning areas outside its administrative jurisdiction. Several agencies exercise complete control over these areas such as MMRDA, MHADA and MIDC. MIDC is in charge of Marol Industrial Area, Seepz SEZ and Mhada of Dharavi Redevelopment Project while MMRDA is responsible for five zones within MCGM designated as special planning areas— Back Bay Reclamation Area, Wadala Truck Terminal, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Gorai Uttan Tourism Zone and the airport. The MMRDA also serves as the nodal agency for several infrastructure projects currently being executed such as MUTP, MUIP, metro and monorail, Wadala Truck Terminal and skywalks. In addition, several areas are off-limits to MCGM like lands with defence forces, Mumbai Port Trust, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the railways. Finally, there is the state's overarching reach through its urban development department, which has been responsible for modifications to development control rules.

Mehta in 2016 even suggested that the BMC should be involved in planning for state projects such as slum rehabilitation (the SRA is planning authority) and MHADA to prevent delays. if

With restricted travel times,...

"We have been receiving complaints from people about this absurd rule of travelling before 7am. The government needs to intervene and either ask the companies to change their office timings or ask Railways to extend train timings for all at least by an hour in the morning," said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad. Currently, there are a score of MNCs that have asked their employees to work from home. However, this is not the case with the unorganised sector and employees of private companies, who have been asking their employees to come in to work. "Our staff are reaching work sooner, by 8-8.30am. So, they are also being asked to leave before 4pm. But then it's not possible to follow this system every day, unless there are proper instructions from the government," said AN Shaikh, an HR professional working at a marketing firm. Commuters have said these travel times are inconvenient to reach work and want the state to allow travel during peak hours. "We have unofficially changed office timings, though it would have been a lot easier to implement if the government had introduced a circular. They should have thought of this earlier, before starting trains for all at selected times. This was badly planned," said Siddesh Desai, an HR professional in a finance company.

The entire plan -- of having coloured tickets for those travelling at special times, controlled entry/exit points and other steps have not been taken. "We have asked our staff to ensure that there is no crowding at stations or stampede-like situations on foot overbridges and ticket counters. In such a situation, with the help of local police, we will restrict the entry of people to 50 metres before the station premises," said a senior railway official. For the last 3 days, the number of daily passengers have touched 33 lakh, on both CR and WR. Meanwhile, the state health minister, Rajesh Tope, had said on Tuesday the govt was cognisant of the inconvenience being faced by commuters due to the stipulated travel times and they were considering rescheduling the permissible travel times.

Metro carshed at Kanjurmarg

The 102 acres were handed over to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority in October last year, for a common depot for Metro-3 and Metro-6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli). However, it was stayed by the high court. The state government’s move to reserve the land for the metro carshed comes on the heels of the report submitted by a nine-member committee headed by Chief Secy Sanjay Kumar in January. The committee has observed that Kanjurmarg was more suitable than the Aarey Colony for integration of multiple metro lines, and a future expansion plan was possible on that land. Further, the committee also noted more space inside the ecologically rich Aarey expanse would be required for the expansion of the yard in the future, necessitating further damage to the green cover.