In what could spiral into a messy fight over infrastructure in Mumbai’s mill lands, the Maharashtra government has written to the National Textiles Corporation (NTC) asking it to ‘‘undertake a civic infrastructure impact assessment on an urgent basis’’ for all its properties in the city. The State urban development ministry has demanded that NTC should implement the recommendations of the assessment which ‘‘may include a road network, drainage and sewage facilities at its own cost’’ in the land under possession. This has not gone down well with the PSU, which is asking why it should provide civic infrastructure. But what has really got NTC’s goat is a line in the Maharashtra government’s letter: ‘‘45 acre land of the 5 mills sold by the PSU last year should also be included in the assessment’’. NTC feels the directive could scuttle—or, at the very least, delay—its plan to sell 13 mills in Mumbai, which is expected to fetch in excess of Rs 4,000 crore and fund its modernisation plan. After all, it is awaiting approvals from the state government for sale of another 13 mills in the city occupying over 80 acres of land. In keeping with the demand for an assessment survey in the letter—written after a meeting with chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on May 13—NTC has invited expression of interest for conducting the study. The study is expected to be completed by mid-July and submitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). NTC, however, has no plans to implement infrastructure development and will move the courts if necessary. ‘‘Last year we were embroiled in litigation for a year before the SC gave us a stamp of approval regarding sale of 5 mills. It appears that the drill has to be repeated,’’ said NTC CMD K. Ramachandran Pillai when contacted. The sale of mills generated Rs 2,200 crore which saw NTC come out of the red for the first time in 30 years, posting a profit of Rs 1,404 crore for 2005-06. The PSU is looking to create a turnaround by selling off loss-making units and improving productivity. But the tussle with the state government may force it to redraw its plans. ‘‘There is no precedence to what the state government wants us to do. Conducting impact assessments is the job of the municipal corporation and creating proper infrastructure is the buyer’s prerogative. Why should we be doing that when we just want to sell the land and go away,’’ said an official in NTC. The Maharashtra government claims that creation of civic infrastructure was discussed at the May 13 meeting which was also attended by Textiles Minister Shanker Sinh Vaghela. ‘‘There is a need for creating infrastructure in and around the textile mills in Central Mumbai. But I can’t confirm or deny sending any letter to the NTC,’’ said State Urban Development Secretary Ramanand Tiwari. Central Mumbai is going through a complete makeover with builders tearing down old textile mills and chawls to construct multi-storey buildings. The new towers are creating an acute mismatch of civic infrastructure with residents complaining of lack of water, roads and sewage facilities. At present construction has started in almost all the projects with prices touching an all-time high. Redevelopers, meanwhile, are passing the buck of creating civic infrastructure to the seller. ‘‘It is NTC which should look at this, not us,’’ said an Indiabulls official. Indiabulls took over Jupiter and Elphinstone Mills last year for Rs 700 crore. Chawl rehab NTC has said it is committed to BMC’s Development Control Regulation 58 which insists on a rehabilitation plan for chawl residents. The plan, it said, has already started rehabilitation in Elphinstone Mill. ‘‘We will comply to whatever rules that are in place for rehabilitation of chawl residents and have awarded tender for Elphinstone Mill to a builder. Rehabilitation in the other mills will also be taken up shortly,’’ said NTC CMD K. Ramachandran Pillai. There are chawls in five locations owned by NTC and they are occupied by over 2,000 people. NTC will work on rehabilitation on the lines of the Elphinstone Mill.
