Hindustan
Times: Mumbai: Wednesday, October 31, 2012.
Citizens who
want to ensure that the city's new development plan (DP), expected to be in
place from 2014, does not reflect the flaws and discrepancies in the existing
land use (ELU) survey can now start on-ground scrutiny using the survey maps.
The Urban
Design Research Institute (UDRI) has obtained the rectified survey maps from
the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) using the Right to Information
(RTI) Act, and has made it accessible on its website, though the BMC is yet to
make the maps public, more than two weeks after it committed to permitting
public scrutiny of the survey.
Reacting to a
series of reports in HT about discrepancies in the ELU survey, civic chief
Sitaram Kunte had said that the BMC would make the survey available by October
20, after correcting some obvious "technical" mistakes.
The ELU
survey, conducted by a BMC-appointed consultant, has classified land use across
the city and will form the basis for the new DP, which is a blueprint for the
city's development for 20 years. As reported in HT, a study conducted by the
UDRI has found at least 1,200 instances where the ELU survey does not match the
1991 DP and satellite imagery.
The UDRI has
sent out a newsletter asking people to participate in the verification process.
Officials
from the BMC's development plan department explained the delay. "We will
put up the rectified maps of the ELU survey of each ward in the respective ward
office. But we are waiting for these maps to be ready. Hopefully, we will be
able to do so by the first week of November," said Rajiv Kuknur, chief
engineer, DP department.
Another
official said the BMC will come out with an email address so people can send
their inputs.
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