Cluster by cluster, city could prosper

When it comes to infrastructure preparedness, India usually places the cart before the horse. For instance, this is true with aviation and urban development. While some argue that development (everything from permitting more airline carriers to allowing more buildings in a city) should be allowed at a rapid pace as infrastructure is bound to follow, others naturally believe that infrastructure must precede development.
The recent Supreme Court order on DCR 33(7) will definitely mean faster redevelopment of cessed properties. However, the required infrastructure-wider roads, water, etc-essential for such development will sadly come later.
Let's set aside the debate on infrastructure and development for a moment. The key issue often ignored is that of planning. When I raised the issue about the development of mill lands in the island city, my reason for doing so was because a spate of construction in the area would have a huge impact on the way people commute, work and live. I was trying to ensure that the state government and BMC had zoned or planned the area prior to permitting such widespread development. There too, unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not see the logic in the way the Bombay high court did.
Although urban development is a serious challenge across all of India's cities, I am happy to state that the Union government , through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, has taken a big step towards addressing the challenge at a national level. Not only will Mumbai get additional funds from the Centre, but soon the JNNURM will help the BMC govern better.
In Mumbai, we still have an opportunity available to set things right. An amended DCR 33(9) could, in conjunction with an improved 33(7), allow for improved planning before any construction starts. This, if properly implemented, could result in clusters or mini-urban centres within Mumbai that will be able to generate their own civic resources, such as water through rainwater harvesting and sanitation. Cluster by cluster, Mumbai could become a planned city once again.
Along with some of India's leading architects and town planners, I am working with the Maharashtra government to find a short-term and longterm solution to this issue. The immediate solution is that only dilapidated buildings should be reconstructed using 33(7). It need not apply to strong structures. Builders will obviously choose to develop a 'cessed' building in plush Walkeshwar while ignoring the plight of those living in structures in Kalbadevi, for example, where 33(7) is needed most. To ensure this, the BMC and MHADA have to have a stringent permissible criteria, be more vigilant and of course, free of corruption.
The long-term solution is for the state government to appoint a high level committee, comprising government and ex-government officials and most importantly eminent, but constructive, solution-oriented , town planners, to amend 33(9) in a transparent manner and within a stipulated period of time, so that it is acceptable to tenants, landlords and other affected parties. The committee must simultaneously identify one or more pilot areas where such development is A) the need of the hour, B) legally practicable and C) financially viable. After this, the committee must prepare a master plan for the pilot area that involves zoning, a plan for generating resources within the cluster and a general idea of what the newly developed area will look like once completed . Only then, should the state government allow private developers to obtain the consent of residents of the area and submit a proposal to the government . If this is done right, it could well become a model for the rest of the country. If not, it will become a remnant of yet another opportunity that Mumbai had before it but failed to seize.
While Mumbai, or any large city in the world, has no choice but to grow vertically, my only contention is that this should not happen in the absence of planning. In some ways, the Supreme Court's recent verdict might provide the necessary jolt to those in Mantralaya to act decisively in the city's interest.
(The writer is a Member of Parliament from south Mumbai)