Development plan 2034: BMC admits to errors in draft

Subsequently, the civic body instructed urban planners and sub-engineers of the DP department to be present to correct CTS Nos with respect to villages. This exercise was carried out on Thursday and Friday.

Urban planners say the implications of it are shocking and more time should be given to citizens to submit the suggestions and objections on the draft DP. “It defeats the very purpose of spending so much money, time and effort on a Mumbai DP for the next 20 years. As per procedure, if a particular plot is to be redeveloped, the owners request the BMC to issue DP remarks on the land reservation as part of receiving permission for starting construction work. Looking at the draft DP in its current form, people may not feel the need to comment or object if they do not see their city survey numbers marked on the proposed land reservations,” said Pankaj Joshi, executive director of Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI).

Watch Video: What’s making news

Joshi further said many residents may decide not to participate in giving feedback to the DP in 60 days. “The BMC blames shoddy work on ‘time constraints’ as they revised the DP on a deadline. But it’s been over a year since revision of the earlier draft plan began. Despite several hundred municipal employees working on the document and maps, these kinds of errors still exist,” added Joshi.

However, officials from the DP department justified it stating CTS Nos were not part of the 1991 DP.

“That’s why the errors are noticed. But, we have received only 20 complaints so far. We can’t stop giving DP remarks as citizens have to file objections on it. But, we are not touching the draft DP and making a separate layer which will be put up before the planning committee,” said an official.