Renowned architect Hafeez Contractor has called for an immediate change to development control (DC) rules so that buildings can be built with uniformity and in accordance with forward-looking laws.
Speaking at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Global Solution Summit 2022, Contractor rued that policies being drawn up today were not worth it, and the good laws of the past were being destroyed.
“Why are we talking only of creating iconic buildings? There is a need to completely change our laws going forward. Each and every building needs to be proper and nice-looking. We have already lost a lot of time and there is an immediate need to change all our DC rules and also ensure that social housing gets focus,” he said.
Citing that the ongoing coastal road project had been planned in 1989, but only took off 30-odd years later, he added that there was a need to plan better and implement projects quickly.
Contractor also said that that development laws being framed currently were completely against Mumbai, an island city.
“Everyone is talking about 430 sqkm (the area in which Mumbai is spread). But of this, 430 sqkm, a hundred sqkm goes off in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, 10 sqkm goes off in the mangroves, and another 30-40 sqkm is defence land. Finally, we are left with only 100 sqkm for development,” he pointed out.
Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO India, called for a joint effort between all stakeholders to improve Mumbai’s infrastructure.
“It is a real shame for us to say that we live in Mumbai. Other cities have exceedingly done better than us. Noida, Hyderabad, and even Raipur have better and wider roads. In Mumbai, the people first settle and roads follow. It has to ideally be the other way round and that planning is missing here,” he said.
The NAREDCO India president called for politicians and builders to work together to ensure a better future for Mumbai.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Global Solution Summit 2022 is a conclave focussed on the development plan for Greater Mumbai. Inaugurated by MP Rahul Shewale, the event saw attendance by chief minister Eknath Shinde.
