Opposition tears papers, climbs seats as BMC clears ‘Rs 20,000 crore’ land deals

The Mumbai civic body’s ruling dispensation on Tuesday pushed through a string of contentious proposals involving prime civic land. The proposals were cleared within minutes, triggering an Opposition protest and walkout, and allegations that civic assets worth thousands of crores of rupees were being transferred without adequate scrutiny.
The Opposition claimed proposals involving civic land worth around Rs 20,000 crore were cleared without allowing a discussion. Following the walkout, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders and corporators, led by former mayor Kishori Pednekar, held a mock general body meeting outside BMC’s heritage civic hall. The proposals were brought before the House for final approval.
Among the most contentious was the proposal to hand over the 23,822-sq-metre Century Mills plot in Lower Parel to Peddar Realty Ltd for Rs 1,351 crore for redevelopment, including housing for former mill workers.
The House approved allotting 15 acres of the erstwhile Mulund dumping ground to Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL) to set up a ready-mix concrete plant and casting yard for the Dharavi redevelopment project. Other projects include 66,687-sq-metre Seven Hills Hospital in Marol, a transfer of 8,994 sq m of BMC land in Lower Parel to Shri Sai Sundar Nagar Co-operative Housing Society for redevelopment, and transferring a civic plot in Borivali to Blue Sky Co Ltd.
The House also approved a proposal to change the reservation of a 1,840-sq-metre garden plot at Lakshminarayan Temple in Ambivali to residential use.
As Mayor Ritu Tawde began taking up the improvement committee proposals, Opposition leader and senior Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Kishori Pednekar sought a discussion, which was turned down. Tawde also maintained that the proposals had already been cleared by the improvement committee.
The decision triggered an uproar, particularly over the Century Mills proposal. Corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and MNS raised objections, stood on their seats and tore papers before walking out of the House.
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The Opposition subsequently held an hour-long mock general body proceeding outside the civic headquarters and later met the Additional Municipal Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs) to raise concerns over the transfer and use of civic land.
Congress alleged that land parcels with a combined value of around Rs 20,000 crore had been cleared without discussion, describing the move as a “loot of Mumbaikar’s properties”. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has sought suspension of the proposals cleared on Tuesday, alleging that democratic norms were disregarded.




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