‘Interim open space policy will keep away contractor lobby’

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has claimed that the interim policy for open spaces, through which open spaces will be given back to citizen groups, will keep the contractor lobby at bay.

The civic body has prepared an interim policy by which it would continue to lease out the recreation ground/playground (RG/PG) plots to private players, provided they fulfil four conditions — free entry to the plot, non-discriminatory access for citizens, access timings fixed as permitted the BMC and maintenance be up to the mark.

Under the interim policy, a person or a group will be allowed to maintain an open space for a period of 11 months. The contract will lapse if the revised open space policy comes in force before the stipulated period.

“With this policy, we are allowing local citizens to maintain open spaces in their area for a period of 11 months. It will also keep the contractor lobby at bay and local citizens would be the watch guards of these plots,” said a senior civic official. With the help of this policy, the BMC is planning to give open spaces to those 100 plus organisations from which they had taken back gardens like Horniman Circle and Colaba Woods.

“We will hand over the plots to these organisations if they fulfil our four conditions. A committee, comprising local assistant municipal commissioners, will be set up to inspect if the conditions are being met by the private players,” the official added.

The Shiv Sena has given its support to the interim policy provided it keeps away encroachments from open plots.

“The major problem is encroachments on open spaces. If a good organisation comes forward to maintain the plots thereby preventing encroachment, we will welcome it,” said Trishna Vishwasrao, group leader, Shiv Sena.

However, the interim policy will not apply to those plots, which are still in the contract period with caretakers, as they cannot be taken back by the BMC.