Mumbai: BMC, MHADA plan to swap parts of mill land

In an ambitious move which could give the city it’s much needed open spaces, the BMC and MHADA are going to interchange parts of mill lands, which were handed over to them by mill landowners. All the plots in question are in Parel—Byculla area, which has a skewed ratio of open spaces. As per the proposal which will be put in the improvement committee meeting, residents will get bigger gardens and mill workers will get a combined plot to facilitate their housing.
However, the only visible hurdle in the proposal is that BMC has to hand over the Garden which it has already developed with the cost of Rs. 46.71 lakhs.
As per the Development Control rules, the developers of the Mill land have to hand over one-third (27% to 33%) of the open land to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (Mhada) and one-third (33%) to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for creating additional affordable housing and open spaces respectively. However small tracts of mill land make it difficult for the MHADA to develop public housing.
Similarly, the small plots are a hurdle for the BMC to develop a proper garden on the plot. So as per state government Urban Development Notification, the BMC and MHADA can interchange the lands.
Hence, the BMC administration is ready to hand over 3608 square meter plot in Western India Ltd mill in Parel Shivdi division. The cost of the plot is approx Rs. 63 crores. In the return, MHADA will hand over six smaller plots on six mill lands with the total area of 3874 square meters. The cost of the land is around Rs. 67 crores. As per the proposal, there will be no exchange of money between the two authority.
Other hurdles are also coming in the way of taking this proposal forward. The BMC has to part with it’s already developed garden in the Western Mill in Parel. MHADA doesn’t have property cards of Mafatlal mill, Hindustan mill unit A and B, and Crown Mill plots. Mafatlal mill plot has encumbrances of a small temple and few encroachments alongside the adjoining footpaths. The proposal will be put on the table in the Improvement Committee meeting this week