MLAs oppose coastal road, elevated Metro

Meet CM With Demands For Better City

Mumbai: Cutting across party lines, Mumbai MLAs opposed the coastal road and elevated Metro rail during a meeting with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday. 

    In the course of the sevenhour discussion held at the state-owned Sahyadri guesthouse, most MLAs also voiced their protests against the new development control rules (DCR) framed during the tenure of former civic chief Subodh Kumar. Three days after Kumar retired, public representatives took strong exception to the idea, said an MLA. 

    "The coastal road will pose a threat to the mangroves in the city. Instead, the government should go for a sea link," said Congress MLA from Bandra Baba Siddiqui. The coastal road is reportedly Chavan's dream plan to turn Mumbai into a "world class city". Another MLA said, the Metro should run underground and not at an elevated level. Amin Patel, also from the Congress, took a potshot at the DCR, saying the new rules would, in no way, help reduce the cost of tenements and flats in Mumbai. "In fact, it will fuel a rise in property prices," he said. 

    "Passage areas should be excluded from the fungible FSI." After the DRC was amended, areas like flowerbeds, staircases and lifts, which were earlier free of FSI, are now counted in the fungible FSI, for which a premium has to be paid. 

    After hearing his legislators, Chavan said, "I will take up the Mumbai issues with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Union minister for environment. All key and long-pending demands pertaining to the city will be discussed with central ministers. Chavan added before the monsoon session, he would study the problems of the island city and the western and eastern suburbs separately before informing the MLAs about the actions taken. He instru cted the municipal commissioner to undertake pre-rains measures so that Mumbai can be saved from being flooded. 

    Among the other demands, Vile Parle MLA Krishna Hegde insisted that those staying on the airport periphery be rehabilitated in the same vicinity, on the space being carved out for non-aeronautical purpose. Leader of Opposition in the state legislative council Vinod Tawde (BJP) said to accelerate development in Mumbai, all authorities of the state, civic body and central agencies should be brought under one umbrella. 

PLEA TO CHAVAN With Mumbai left with hardly any open spaces, reservations of existing open plots should not be changed 

The FSI offered to Koliwadas is not enough and it should be raised further. Recently, FSI in Koliwadas has been increased from 1 to 2 

There is no government hospital in the suburbs. There should be at least one state-owned hospital in each eastern and western suburb 

MLAs from the suburbs should be allowed to spend money from their kitty to repair old buildings in their constituencies