Poll frenzy: CM clears realty projects worth `4,000 crore

160 individual schemes among those okayed in 15 days n Heritage tag off most of Chembur

Mumbai: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has cleared 160 individual development project files and taken major housing policy decisions, worth over Rs 4,000 crore, in the last 15 days. Not just that, the state government did so by glossing over a mandatory rule that calls for the provision of tenements to the economically weaker, if redevelopment is taking place on a plot of 4,000 sq m or above. Chavan also cleared a file that made almost all of Chembur heritage-free, leaving out only the St Anthony's Church, the Jain temple, Leprosy home in Trombay and some bungalows in Deulwadi. The speed at which Chavan has cleared the files contradicts his earlier stand of keeping builders at bay. The clearing of files at record speed, predictably, failed to impress the BJP. It alleged that most of the transaction amount is likely to be used as party funds for Congress candidates during the upcoming assembly elections on October 15. The BJP said it will relook the files, if voted to power. Chavan was unavailable for comment. What are the files that have been cleared? Among the major files to be cleared were the ones relating to cluster development, slum rehabilitation policy for Thane and floor space index (FSI) of 2.5 for Navi Mumbai. Is the decision loaded in favour of developers? The rules mandate that if redevelopment is taking place on a plot of 4,000 sq m or above, tenements will have to be provided for the economically weaker section. However, while clearing the 160 files, this clause was not considered. According to real-estate experts, "the (mandatory) decision would have created sufficient affordable housing stocks for Mhada but developers' profit margins would have been slashed. Now, developers will be benefited a lot. " What is the BJP's argument? Vinod Tawade, senior BJP leader, told dna: "By clearing files hurriedly before the election code of conduct sets in, Chavan has raised the required party fund. We will reopen all these decisions if we come to power." What are builders saying? Obviously they are happy. Sunil Mantri, president of the apex developers' body, NAREDCO, told dna: "I expect elections every three months, so that no files get stuck. Most files have been pending for several months. Thanks to the elections, they were cleared." What if the BJP reopens files as they say? A prominent developer from South Mumbai told dna that chief minister Chavan might have raised funds for his party, but it also benefited developers. "We are worried that the BJP is saying it will reopen files, if voted to power. If that happens, we will lose our money and our projects will be delayed. To get the files cleared again, we have to pay again." What's the Chembur issue? The heritage tag has finally gone off almost the entire Chembur. Only the St Anthony's Church, Jain temple, leprosy home in Trombay and some bungalows in Deulwadi have been left out. Even the Gaothan area has been cleared of the heritage tag. A government regulation will soon be issued. It would have faced a delay of over two months, had Chavan not cleared the file before the poll code of conduct became operational on Friday. Chembur MLA Chandrakant Handore confirmed the move. "The CM cleared the file yesterday. Chembur is purely a residential area, so there was no need to give a heritage tag to it. However, we are happy that the tag has been removed," he said. When did residents start protesting? When they first came to know that the area will be included in the heritage precinct list, an association called Chembur Citizens Forum filed a writ petition with the Bombay high court. The high court, on March 27 this year, ordered that, in two months, a review committee should be formed to present a report. What happened then? A review committee headed by former chief secretary Dinesh Afzalpurkar took suggestion/objections of the residents and compiled a report to strike off more than 500 buildings off the heritage list in Chembur. The report was then sent to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte. Kunte recently forwarded the report to the urban development department. The department then sent the file to Town Planning department for their remarks. The CM finally cleared the file on Thursday.