Standing Committee members have demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reclaim all its open spaces, including playgrounds and recreation grounds from private groups and make it accessible to all.
The members asked why despite the decision by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to cancel the caretaker policy on open spaces, the BMC had failed to take back its open spaces from private bodies and open it for the general public. The issue was raised by leader of the Samajwadi Party Raes Shaikh, who complained that his child’s school was charged ₹80,000 by the Malabar Hill Citizens Forum to access Priyadarshini Park to hold their school sports day.
Mr. Shaikh asked how private groups who managed BMC-owned spaces could demand money from fellow Mumbaikars for accessing open spaces. Other corporators too shared similar woes about recreation spaces being cornered by private groups.
Sunita Yadav, a corporator from Kandivli, said, “One civic ground allows only one dance group to conduct its programmes. Permission is denied to other groups who want to organise programmes. This is unfair.”
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Kotak said that renting out civic spaces was “a huge tax-free business especially for gymkhanas and clubs which charged in lakhs for hosting marriages”. He said caretakers of the grounds had drawn up rate cards and even issued receipts for donations.
Mr. Kotak said, “Why is Asia’s richest civic body not taking charge of its own spaces, especially when it is maintaining about 80% to 90% of its spaces really well?” Ravi Raja of the Congress said the BMC was spending about ₹300 crore on gardens and about 17 spaces were still under the control of private bodies.
