Mumbai’s Development Plan (DP) 2034, of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been delayed by at least another two months, thanks to corporators and officials associated with the planning department of the country’s richest civic body. Left in the lurch are the citizens of Mumbai, who play an important role in chalking out Mumbai’s development strategy.
Yashwant Jadhav, Leader of the House in the corporation and a key Shiv Sena corporator, has moved a motion seeking an extension of the deadline for accepting the DP by another two months. “Corporators from every party want more time to study the DP. Also, members of the BMC would like to spend more time going through the details of every ward.”
Other corporators from parties like the MNS, the NCP and the Congress supported the Sena’s stand for an extension of deadline for accepting the DP. Only the BJP, which is in alliance with the Sena, insisted that the DP should not be delayed any further.
The BJP demanded that experts be hired to explain the technical aspects of the DP to corporators. Party group leader Manoj Kotak said, “If experts are needed to explain the plan, they should be appointed so that there is not much delay in approving the DP.”
Interestingly, more than 32 per cent corporators had bunked the recent seminar on DP 2034. According to civic data, out of 232 corporators (227 elected and five nominated), only 159 had turned up for the event.
