CARTOON.jpg

The Bombay Catholic Sabha and other organisations representing the Roman Catholic community in the city have criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the government for not integrating the recommendations of the public in the draft of the Development Plan 2034. The Sabha in its meeting at Mahim also expressed hurt at the BMC’s “callousness,” as a result of which church premises have vanished and Catholic settlements have disappeared from the DP and the places are marked as slums.

Speaking about the futility of the exercise of inviting public opinions and suggestions for the DP 2034 by the government, Gordon D’Souza, president of the BCS, said that after the draft was released by the end of May the Sabha and its other affiliated organisations studied the previous draft and compared it with the current draft and found that there were no changes whatsoever.

“We had enthusiastically given our suggestions and were expecting the mistakes of the first draft to be rectified. However, nothing was done and on the contrary as many as 25 church premises have disappeared and marked as slums or open grounds which has hurt the sentiments of the community,” said Mr D’Souza.

Another organisation supporting the Sabha said, “It seemed that the government wants to wipe off traces of the Catholic community by removing them from the DP itself. This is shocking and alarming and the entire community will rise against the high-handedness,” said the member.

Mr D’Souza said community members were angry and would meet CM Devendra Fadnavis and ask the BMC to rectify the mistakes in the DP and apologise to the community for its oversight. “If that does not happen we will be forced to take to the streets and protest against the government,” said Mr D’Souza.

The other organisations that leant their voice and support to the BCS are Bombay East Indian Association, Watchdog Foundation, Save our Land, Guardians United , the civic and political cell of Chuim Church and Sahar Citizens Forum. Around 400 people from various organisations were present for the meeting and give their consent to the decisions taken therein.