New norms may end fiascos like plot case

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials hope that the new accommodation reservation policy drafted in the Development Plan (DP) 2034 will be able to prevent controversies like Jogeshwari plot case, in which the BMC has lost a prime plot worth Rs 500 crore. In the new policy, owners or housing societies will be allowed more construction rights if they build the amenity and hand it over for public use.

In a bid to develop open spaces that are reserved for public amenities, the BMC uses the accommodation reservation policy, which allows the affected land owners or housing societies to develop these reservations and compensates them in terms of floor space index (FSI) – and transferable development rights (TDR) for building the amenities.

While the TDR component is used more extensively for non-buildable reservations such as gardens, parks and recreation grounds, accommodation reservation is encouraged for buildable spaces like hospitals, schools, markets etc.

However, the earlier compensation policy did not compensate owners or societies adequately for surrendering their plots for public use, due to which the response was not very encouraging from people. According to earlier norms, the plot owner had to set aside 50 per cent of the plot’s area or 500 sq.mt for the designated reservation. Also, at least 40 per cent of the plot’s size has to be used for building the reservation, which has to be handed over free-of-cost to the BMC.

Further, the civic body has proposed to compensate for construction cost to build reservation in the form of FSI. “The new accommodation reservation policy will offer a huge incentive to owners to hand over their plots. This will prevent Jogeshwari like incidents,” said a senior civic official. The BMC recently had failed to acquire the 3.3-acre plot in Jogeshwari for setting up a recreational ground, thereby facing a loss of Rs 500 crore.

“The last DP was implemented only 16 per cent in the city. For the better implementation of DP 2034, we need Rs 1 lakh crore and the funds can be raised only through accommodation reservation,” the official added.