The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the decision to increase the area under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) by 2,000 sq.km, including the remaining part of Vasai, Panvel, Pen, Alibaug, Khalapur tehsils and the entire Palghar tehsil. “The decision has been taken keeping in view the increasing population in and around Mumbai. Including more area under the MMRDA will help in planning and executing development and infrastructure projects in a more coordinated manner,” said an official from the Urban Development Department.
Growing in size
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was notified in 1967, with an area of 3,965 sq.km. It was later increased to 4,355 sq.km by including a portion of Pen and Alibaug tehsils. The MMR consists of eight municipal corporations (Greater Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi- Nizamapur, Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayandar) and nine municipal councils (Ambarnath, Kulgaon-Badlapur, Matheran, Karjat, Panvel, Khopoli, Pen, Uran, and Alibaug), along with more than 1,000 villages in Thane and Raigad districts.
Infrastructure projects
“There are a number of infrastructure projects being executed. As a result, there was a demand to increase the area under MMRDA,” said the officer. The projects include the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi highway, Mumbai-Surat expressway, Navi Mumbai international airport, Palghar district commercial centre, Mumbai-Porbandar project, the Virar-Alibag multimodal corridor, and various Metro rail projects.
