Civic body has come up with a proposal of buying nine plots each spanning over 1,500 sq m in the suburbs to be developed into recreational spaces
Following the shortage of open spaces for gardens, recreation grounds and playgrounds in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with a proposal of purchasing open spaces from those willing to sell them to the civic body. Once acquired, the open spaces will be developed into recreation grounds that would be open for all. The administration is planning to acquire nine such open spaces in the city suburbs.
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Purchasing of nine open spaces — mainly Malad, Govandi, Deonar and Andheri (East) — is on the agenda of the civic body and the proposal is likely to get a nod from the Improvement Committee.
The area of each open space to be acquired is over 1,500 sq m and all the purchases will be done on the basis of the market rate that will be calculated by the BMC’s Development Planning (DP) department. The approximate cost of the project has been pegged around Rs 51.29 crore and the acquisition will be done after the proposal is passed in various meetings of the civic body.
If and when the Improvement Committee passes the proposal, it will then be put up in the General Body Meeting. Once approved, the purchase of these plots will be a reality and the city will have nine more playgrounds, gardens or recreation spaces.
“We have received the proposal from the Development Planning department,” said the Improvement Committee Chairman Dr Ram Barot. “Once passed, the city can have open spaces to be developed.”
A senior officer from the Development Planning department confirmed the idea behind the proposal. “We want to buy these plots which can be made into open spaces,” he said. u00a0“The residents’ complaints of lack of space will also be met. The proposal will be based on the market rates of those plots.”u00a0