Maharashra govt’s so-called land development plans are unfair to Mumbai people
Election-spotting is a common pastime on Mumbai suburban trains. Commuters have devised a back-of-the-envelope indicator for predicting timing of elections: when Maharashtra’s ruling government frantically tries to close multiple real estate deals in Mumbai. This barometer seems to be indicating another imminent round of elections, going by the state government’s aggressive intervention in real estate deals.
Three examples stand out. One, the government is trying to bully the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), lessee of Mumbai’s famous Mahalaxmi race course, to relinquish part of its 225-acre verdant area. The authorities, ostensibly, want to build an amusement park in the centre, by appropriating 120 acres.
The government, acting through the municipal corporation, has issued a fait accompli to RWITC, making its lease renewal contingent on the deal being accepted by its members. RWITC has now called for an extraordinary general meeting on 30 January, asking members to authorise the committee members to sign the deal with the municipal corporation and the state government. The government’s promise that the construction, proposed in the middle of the open space, will not impede the view of the circular race track has met with scepticism.
It is well known how the Maharashtra government of 2001 amended the Development Control Rules of 1991 to allow textile mill owners to side-step the original rules. The original rules had mandated that textile mill owners wishing to redevelop mill land had to allow use of one-third land as open space, one-third for development of affordable housing and the balance one-third for commercial development. The 2001 amendment surreptitiously allowed mill owners to distribute the land as per
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