‘Increase minimum size of Mumbai plot from one acre to five’

Kumar said,“I have sent a proposal to increase the minimum plot size for cluster projects to the state government last week. A decision is yet to come.”

“Cluster redevelopment should be big enough to enable widening of roads on its periphery and those within as well as retention of Development Plan reservations. This is not possible if the area is less than five acres,” stated his presentation.

While officials maintain that the new proposal will ensure much better planning and amenities for the residents,there is a concern that this model will now be preferred only by big ticket developers.

“The idea behind cluster redevelopment is to ensure that large chunks of land are used rather than scattered redevelopment throughout the city. But this might lead to a handful of big developers,who are in a position to execute large cluster projects,going forward with this development model,” said a civic official.

“Another challenge will be to club such mammoth plots as a large number of owners and tenants are involved. It takes time to convince each tenant,” said a developer of a proposed cluster redevelopment plan.

The state government has approved five cluster redevelopment projects (including the 14-acre Bhendi Bazaar) from over 50 proposals received so far.

Yet another suggestion is that the civic reservations of open spaces,including gardens,playgrounds,recreation grounds,libraries,schools and markets,be fully developed in cluster redevelopment projects. Earlier,developers would partially develop the reserved spaces citing lack of space as the minimum plot size was smaller. For example,while earlier only 60 per cent of a plot reserved for say a garden would be used for its intended purpose,allowing the rest for other uses,now it will be mandatory to use the full plot based on its reservation.

These suggestions are among a series of proposals by the municipal commissioner in the past few weeks. Kumar has recently proposed a policy that will enable sale of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) component in the island city too.