Improvement committee members oppose Civic Chief's proposal

Mumbai, July 27 (UNI) Members of the Improvement Committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) today opposed civic chief's proposal that envisages awarding absolute powers pertaining to play-grounds and other open spaces to the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai.

The proposal that was presented to the Improvement Committee today mentioned that the Municipal Commissioner has the rights to award any open plot admeasuring more than 15,000 sq mts to any caretaker and the plots less than 5,000 sq mts can be awarded by the Assisstant Municipal Commissioner.

However, BJP Corporator Ashish Shelar demanded a ''Refer Back'' to the proposal and said that the proposal should not be cleared.

Congress Corporator Upendra Doshi said, ''The BMC has given many open plots to trusts who charge a very big sum for membership and the common man can not enjoy the benefits of the schemes. The Corporation will not earn any money from this proposal and the guidelines on the basis on which the plot will be given should have been presented today with the proposal.'' Congress Corporators Amin Patel and Pramod Mandrekar said that the BMC should develop the plots and give 50 per cent membership to the common man.

The Improvement Committee members are of the view that the right to award any open plot to any trust or individuals lies with the Committee members who are the trustees of the plots and not the Commissioner.

The proposal will be presented in the Committee meeting next month and a decision will be taken on it.

UNI