To add to the criticism of the Development Plan (DP) 2034, a group of citizens has pointed out several lacunae in the document. Some of these include, increasing floor space index (FSI) for luxury activities in Special Development Zones, stringent norms for redevelopment in the suburbs, mandatory area limit for inclusive housing projects, and so on. However, the citizens say they need to wait till the gazette notification is published for a clearer picture to emerge.
The State government recently published a notification for the DP 2034, which will come into effect a month from the publication in the gazette. The DP, along with the Development Control and Promotion Regulations, will be the city’s blueprint for the next 20 years. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis signed the plan on April 24, 2018. It has been published in two parts: the sanctioned plan and the excluded plan. Citizens have one month’s time to submit objections on the excluded plan while the former has already gone through that stage.
The city-based Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) on Monday held a public meeting to address the alleged lacunae in the DP 2034. According to UDRI, the DP is confusing in some parts and incomplete, as maps have not been uploaded yet. Despite that, people have been asked to submit objections. Besides, the documents are in English. One of the major objections of the citizens’ group was that the DP has allowed construction of solid waste management systems on 10% open spaces larger than 2,000 sq metres, “compromising the integrity of open spaces.” The other objection is that for development of luxury activities such as resorts, hotels and restaurants on SDZs, the FSI has been increased from 0.2 to 0.5. For the cluster redevelopment of buildings in the suburbs, the minimum plot size has been revised to 10,000 sq.m. Citizens believe this will exclude a majority of the plots in suburbs.
“Many such inconsistencies are found in the sanctioned plan as well. There, people do not have the scope to do anything. The government should take serious note of this,” said Pankaj Joshi, director, UDRI. Mr. Joshi said UDRI will submit these objections soon.
