A unified body is need of the hour, say Mumbai civic body chief – Hindustan Times

Against the backdrop of the war of words between the alliance partners of the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition over the proposal to make the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) the city’s single planning authority, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told Hindustan Times said this proposal was aimed at integrated development for Mumbai, rather than expanding the civic chief’s powers.

What is the idea behind the move to make BMC the single planning authority for Mumbai?

The plan to make BMC the entire city of Mumbai’s single planning authority is for integrated planning and development of the city in the immediate future. Today, BMC does not know what is happening in Cuffe Parade, Bandra Kurla Complex or other areas like Mumbai Port Trust land, where it has no power to be the planning authority. There are multiple agencies today in the city — like Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Mumbai Port Trust, and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) — planning development and infrastructure independently. It should ideally be done by a single body.

Is the current arrangement not working?

There are multiple agencies in the city making their own plans. For example, a citizen residing in MHADA wants a garden in their area. They approach their corporator… Now, the corporator despite wanting to spend money from the corporators fund cannot build a garden as Mhada is the special planning authority in the area. So, technically, the corporator becomes helpless and citizens have to approach multiple agencies. A unified body is the need of the hour, which means BMC can plan in a better way.

Within the MVA government, there is strong opposition to the idea of BMC being the single planning authority.

What I am proposing for Mumbai is for its betterment. Mumbai has to have a single planning authority if it wants to become a world-class city in the coming years. There are issues like where a school has to come up, where to construct hospitals, where to build a road. All this all has to be integrated… look at cities like Paris, Los Angeles and Barcelona, London.

How do you respond to the allegation that Shiv Sena-ruled BMC wants more power by being the single planning authority?

It is not about power. It is not that the BMC commissioner wants more power. It is not like BMC does not have work. We have tremendous workload here, but a city like Mumbai should have one authority to plan its growth and future development.

Different agencies play different roles. By concentrating these powers, does BMC want to take on the work of building infrastructure like MMRDA or mass housing like Mhada?

My proposal does not mean other agencies’ work …. be taken over by the BMC. These agencies can do their own work. What I meant is that the BMC should have the powers for planning and execution can be done by the.same agencies as per the current arrangement. Also, I have just proposed it to the state government, and not implemented the same yet. If the state government doesn’t think my proposal is good, it will reject the same.