With about a week left for final suggestions & objections to come in for the Mumbai development plan, urban experts, developers and the government continue to be divided on the pros and cons of the latest draft.

Mumbai DP’s Deadline Draws Close

The last time the Mumbai development plan (DP) for 2014-2034 came around, it met with a storm of criticism that forced the chief minister to scrap the plan and order a revision. A year later, the revised development plan has been released for public discussion, with the deadline for suggestions and objections ending on the 29th of July. The big question that everyone is asking is will the DP pass the test?

“There is nothing that is the last word. Everything has another version that will come out and so the minute you think you have got the last word, that is the end. Nothing can have a last word, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana has no last word, so what is this poor DP when compared to that? Let the versions come and let me assure you that we will take everything on board.” proclaimed an optimistic Ajoy Mehta, Municipal Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Meanwhile, the builder community has been largely supportive of the DP, including the proposals to increase FSI. However, they are insistent that the BMC do more to free up land for development and also take steps to reduce the cost of construction.

“Builders don’t want money, they want FSI and we are very happy that you (the BMC) have done that. Now that FSI has been increased, what we need is to create affordability across the board through lower taxes, including rationalizing the ready reckoner rate which the government increases year on year, making affordable housing unaffordable.” says Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder & MD of the Hiranandani Group.

Opposition To Mumbai DP Heats Up

While the BMC commissioner is defiant, opposition to the revised DP is rising with a number of NGOs and urban planners protesting against flaws in the plan. The Hamara Shehar Mumbai Abhiyaan (HSMA) took out a protest against what they are calling pro-developer proposals and have submitted nearly 5,000 suggestions asking for revisions in the DP.

“If this is a government-led planning process, then there are some non-negotiables like basic amenities that are required to be provided for the people by the BMC. So those should be in the priority list and not the incentive FSI and the TDR which has been sort of bulked up in order to facilitate redevelopment work in the city.” says Aravind Unni, architect and planner at HSMA.

More and more Mumbaikars are making their voices heard. #MumbaiDP #chaloazadmaidan4DP pic.twitter.com/BXHEuq8WfN

— Hamara Shehar Mumbai (@HSMumbaiAbhiyan) July 20, 2016

Critics say the Mumbai DP has several proposals which have not been well though-out. These include errors in the mapping and zoning system, inclusion of green zones in densely populated areas, the exclusion of several gaothans and koliwadas from the DP, the lack of contour maps to understand the risk of flooding, insufficient provisions for open spaces and the rehabilitation of slums in eco-sensitive zones like Aarey milk colony.

“This DP is ignoring 60% of the city’s population which is the working class of the city and it’s not really taking any initiative to plan for them. Not housing, not facilities, not services nor infrastructure.” says Sitaram Shelar, convenor of the Pani Haq Samiti

Delayed DP To Impact City’s Real Estate?

As things stand, the BMC has officially received only about 2,700 suggestions to the DP, a far cry from the nearly 65,000 suggestions that were submitted for the first draft of the DP over a year. But with protests heating up, that number could rise drastically over the next 10 days. Real Estate experts are worried that if the DP gets bogged down once again, it will have a serious impact on Mumbai’s real estate sector.

“When things are not certain, decisions don’t happen. Developers will want to wait when launching new projects. That means supply is going to further dry up and from a consumer’s perspective , that naturally means fewer projects to choose from, which in turn means that prices can go up.” Says Ashutosh Limaye, Head of research and REIS at JLL India

While the impact on real estate cannot be denied – the Mumbai DP is a document that will determine the economic, infrastructural and demographic growth of Mumbai over the next 20 years. And so, it is not something which can be decided in a hurry. The government should ensure that all stakeholder concerns are taken into account before implementing such a far-reaching plan.

Nikhil Narayan Sivadas, Assistant Editor, NDTV