In a bid to push the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) waste-to-energy project at the city’s Deonar dumping ground, the state cabinet on Wednesday approved the change in reservation of the plot on which the project will come up. According to sources in the state Urban Development Department (UDD), a total of 57,508 sqm area has five reservations, which are corporation school (1.656 sqm), other education (14,637 sqm), playground (31,200 sqm), student hostel (7,260 sqm) and garden (2,755 sqm) as per the BMC Development Plan 2034. “The entire area is under the possession of the Solid Waste Management department, which has proposed to set up the plant and the reservations on the land were delaying the execution of the project. As a result, the municipal corporation had requested to change the use as landfill site and display reservation as garden,” an official said. The official added that the project is of public welfare. However, it had the reservation of playground on 31,200 sqm and, as per the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, all planning bodies have been directed to not change the playground reservation. In addition, the state's sports policy doesn't allow regularising encroachment on playgrounds. “Cabinet approval as well as the sports department’s opinion is necessary in case of any change in reservation,” the officer said. The BMC has informed the state government that it will provide identical-size playground in place of the ground in question at an adjacent site. The waste-to-energy project has been pending for many years and following the change in the reservation status of the land, the project is likely to be streamlined.
