Mumbai
Mirror: Mumbai: Tuesday, December 25, 2018.
Reply
to an RTI query reveals several departments, MMRDA raised red flags over the
project.
The
state government set aside various objections, including the one from the urban
development department that giving the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) land for the
proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train terminus might lead to a revenue loss of
Rs 48,000 crore, when it cleared the project on September 12 last year.
The
government also overlooked reservations of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Development Authority (MMRDA) which said ceding the land would cripple the
development potential of the BKC and departments of finance, planning and
transport, revealed the reply to a right to information (RTI) query.
The
state government had on February 27, 2017 set up a cabinet sub-committee headed
by Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis to study the bullet train project in
detail. Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, Education Minister Vinod Tawde and
Transport Minister Diwakar Raote were the members of the committee. The home department’s
reply to a separate RTI query by the same petitioner has revealed that till
November 26, 2018, the committee did not hold asingle meeting.
The
RTI query filed by activist Jeetendra Ghadge revealed that a cabinet note
(dated January 3, 2017) prepared by the transport department shows objections
raised by various departments. According to the cabinet note, the UD department
said, “There is a possibility of loss of revenue of Rs 48,000 crore, if the MMRDA
land in BKC is given away. Instead of the BKC land, the railway ministry should
give its own land for the project somewhere else.’’
The
UD, according to the RTI reply, further said, “There is clarity that the
station will be underground and the International Financial Service Centre will
be overground. Both can co-exist. However, some part of the available FSI could
remain unutilised due to height restriction, leading to revenue loss. Hence a
conscious decision must be taken.’’
The
MMRDA, in fact, had suggested that the railway ministry should have the bullet
train terminus on their land
at Dadar or Bandra. “The bullet train terminus would reduce the development
potential of the land at BKC. This would affect the future availability of the
projects of the MMRDA,’’ it said.
The
finance department’s apprehension was that the same agency Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which conducted the feasibility
study, would be giving the loans.
“The
government budget has shown a revenue loss and its proportion with the fiscal
deficit is much more. The sizable chunk goes into repaying internal loans taken
by the state. Against this background, the state government’s decision of
buying the share of the project should be taken into consideration,’’ it said.
When
contacted, CM Fadnavis said ‘the information is wrong’. “Selective information
is asked under the RTI. The decision (about the bullet train project) was taken
by the cabinet. A meeting of the committee was held,’’ he told Mirror. However,
he did not specify when the meeting was held.
Text
message to Tawde went unanswered and Chandrakant Patil, too was not available
for a comment.
Activist
Ghadge said the RTI replies have exposed the state government on the bullet
train issue. “Both replies show that the government did not consider the
objections by its own departments and gave approval to the project under
pressure from the Centre. It is also not clear if the project would be
beneficial for Maharashtra,’’ he said
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