Mumbai News: BMC Clarifies On Gaothan, Koliwada & Adivasi Pada Boundaries In Development Plan

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stated that if the boundaries of gaothans, koliwadas, and adivasi padas are missing in the city's Development Plan, boundaries will be marked after they are finalised in the revenue department records.

The municipal body clarified this in response to statements from citizens' groups that only 52 of the 189 gaothans in the city have been marked on the DP. The chief engineer (DP) said that under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, the urban development department approved the DP for the Greater Mumbai area 2034 in a government notification on May 8, 2018. The matter is therefore mainly related to the revenue and fisheries department, the BMC said.

Residents of the settlements, most of which predate the establishment of the city, have been campaigning for the marking of the areas on DP so that the areas are not identified as slums and forced to join slum rehabilitation projects.

"We have already filed Public Interest Litigation No.55 of 2019 in Bombay High Court, in this regard since BMC did not mark many gaothans and koliwadas in DP of 2034 despite making representation with regards to the omission of the localities. Further there are no separate Development Control Promotion Regulations (DCPR) for gaothans and koliwadas of Mumbai, even though such regulations have been framed for entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region except Mumbai," said Godfrey Pimenta of Watchdog Foundation.

BMC said that as per the boundaries in the graph received from the urban development department, the boundaries of a total of 22 koliwadis in Mumbai Suburban District have been shown on the DP. Also, as per the boundaries in the graph received from the concerned urban survey officers of the revenue department of Mumbai Suburban district and the district superintendent of land records, a total of 115 boundaries (polygon) in 64 village gaothans in Mumbai Suburban District have been shown on the DP 2034.

Once the BMC receives the maps/diagrams showing the boundaries of the remaining koliwadas and gaothans, they will be included in the Development Plan 2034 as per the above strategic list, the chief engineer (DP) said.

About the complaint about the absence of DCPR for the localities, the

chief engineer (DP), said there is a provision in DCPR 2034 for the reconstruction and redevelopment of the areas. "This provision is temporarily kept in abeyance) and in this regard, the Hon. Commissioner's quasi-official letter has been requested to the Urban Development Department to issue instructions to make suitable changes in the regulations. Further action will be taken in this regard after receiving appropriate instructions from the UDD," the office of the chief engineer (DP) said.

Meanwhile, a group of associations representing residents of the gaothans, the United Christian Front has appealed to district guardian minister, Ashish Shelar, to take up the cause of the gaothans and favour the original inhabitants of Mumbai. "Please help save them from extinction and ensure that the original Mumbaikars get a decent living in their own gaothan houses. Therefore we once again appeal to you to kindly issue orders for immediate demarcation of the remaining 137 Mumbai gaothans," said advocate Alexander Dsouza of the United Christian Council and former Christian Samaj Pramukh, Mumbai BJP Minority Morcha.

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