PCMC urged to amend DC rules

“As per the government directive,all private layouts /lands over 20,000 sq ft need to reserve 25% of flats/land for housing of EWS/LIG and 10% for MIG. The government had also directed the implementation of the said rules immediately,” said corporators from the Shiv Sena,the opposition party in the PCMC.

A private realty firm had challenged the order in the Bombay High court. The High Court bench of D K Deshmukh and N D Deshpande had struck down the clause regarding immediate implementation of the new rules without due process of section 37 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTPA).

A proposal to modify the DC Rules of PCMC was shelved in February 2011 by the general body of the PCMC.

The PCMC had written to the state government seeking clarifications on the status of the government directive after the HC order.

“The state government’s urban development department had sent a letter to the PCMC in July 2011 stating that the HC had not objected to the new rules but merely objected to implementation without completing the modification process as per section 37 of the MRTPA. Hence the state government asked PCMC to complete the process of modification of the DC rules immediately and sent it to the state government for approval,” said Sena corporator Seema Savale.

Sena leader Sarang Kamtekar said that although the clarification was received a year ago,the PCMC has failed to initiate the modification process to accommodate the new rules. He said as there is a trend to develop larger flats by private builders there is a scarcity of small flats affordable to the common man. “Due to this,the poor are either compelled to buy small tracts of lands and build illegal houses or stay in slums,” said Savale,who urged the acting municipal commissioner to table a proposal before the civic general body meeting through the City Improvement Committee to modify the rules as per the state government directive.