THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAIFRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 20118 TIMES CITY

The BEST has scrapped the Rs 25daily bus pass and introduced

only one daily pass of Rs 40 totravel in any ordinary, limited orexpress bus across the city.The new pass system will comeinto effect from November 1. TNN

BEST scraps ̀̀ 25 pass

Asha Bhosale has made it theGuinness World Records for

the most number of studiorecordings in over 20 Indianlanguages since 1947. TNN

World record for Asha

CM Prithviraj Chavan said thestate would soon bail itself out

of the power crisis and there wouldbe ‘ample’ power for industrialunits and households. TNN

‘Power bailout soon’

The Aarey police on Tuesdayarrested three siblings for

killing a construction contractor.The deceased was attacked bythe group on Monday. TNN

3 arrested for murder

The Dharavi police arrestedfour people for a dacoity

attempt in a jewellery store onThursday. The police seizedweapons and a car. TNN

4 held for dacoity plan

WEATHER

Sunrise:Sat 0634 hrsSunset:Fri 1812 hrsMoonrise:Fri 0048 hrsMoonset:Fri 1352 hrsForecast: One or fewspells of light rain orthundershowers mayoccur in parts of cityand suburbs.Relative humidity:Colaba 89 %, SantaCruz 85%

Colaba

33.6°/26°

Santa Cruz

33.7°/27°

‘Caretaker policy willhurt open spaces’

| TNN

Mumbai: Citizens, membersof NGOs and advanced local-ity managements (ALMs) onThursday demanded scrap-ping of the BMC’s newly draft-ed policy on open spaces.Speaking at the first publichearing, they said the policyis detrimental to open spaces.

Their first objection wasthat the policy being inMarathi, they found it diffi-cult to translate in Englishand thus lost time to submittheir objections.

Additional municipal com-missioner Aseem Guptachaired the hearing whichstarted at 11 am and went ontill evening. It was attended byNGO Citispace members NeeraPunj, Parul Kumtha, GaurangVora, member F(north) wardCitizens’ Forum, Anil Bhatia,

member, Marine Drive D-roadResidents’ Association, Ra-jkumar Sharma, member, AL-MANAC in Chembur, residentsfrom Dadar Parsi colony andmany other residents.

They objected to the pointthat ALMs wanting to adoptshould have a minimum Rs 50lakh for small plots and morefunds in their kitty if it is a larg-er plot. “This is an eyewash asBMC knows ALMs will not beable to generate such funds. Sothe plot will be given away oncaretaker basis,” said Vora.

Another objection was thatfor open plots above 5,000 sqm, where a private party willbe allotted 25% of the plot oncaretaker basis, they will payBMC a premium. The privateparty develops on 25% of theplot for clubs or gymnasiumsand the premium will be usedby BMC to maintain the re-maining 75% of the ground.

Citizens said that alreadyeight recreation grounds (RGs)out of 11 RG plots given awayon caretaker basis, have vio-lated the BMC’s lease agree-ments in the past. They de-manded that an audit be con-ducted of all open spaces giv-en away on adoption and care-

taker basis and also of thoseplots that are open but en-croached upon. “The BMC hasto put its own house in order.They should penalize the civicstaff who have turned a blindeye on violations,” said Punj.Citizens rubbished BMC’sclaims that it lacked funds todevelop and maintain the city’s1,200 reserved open spaces.

They cited a survey con-ducted by Oval Maidan and

Churchgate residents on thefunds required for mainte-nance and protection of openspace. It showed that for peracre of open space, the fundsrequired for the first year forconstruction of a cabin for thegardener, water pump, fencingwill be Rs 11 lakh per acre. Inthe next year, it will not go be-yond Rs 5-6 lakh per acre.

The last public hearing willbe held on Friday. BMC willthen modify the draft and sendit to the improvements’ paneland general body meeting fora clearance. The draft will thenbe sent to the government forapproval.

A file photo of trees hacked at the Juhu plot that RonsonFoundation had taken over under the caretaker policy. After muchprotests by citizens, the BMC has retained control of the plot

Under the DevelopmentControl Regulations, 13X13 ftof open space per person isevery citizen’s birthright.

DID YOU KNOW?

What The Draft States� Allow caretaker tocommercially exploit 25% of aplot above 5,000 sq m, whilemaking him pay formaintenance of the rest 75%,physical possession of whichthe BMC plans to retain

� Local citizens’ groups andALMs will be given preferenceto protect and maintain openspaces on adoption basis, butno construction will be allowed

Objections� Bad track record of BMC inprotecting open spaces as itfailed to ensure that leaseagreement was followed in letterand spirit by private parties

� The policy was in Marathi andcitizens lost time in translation

� BMC has proposed caretakerpolicy to generate funds tomaintain remaining 75% of openspace. It could generate fundsfrom sources other thandepleting open spaces by giving

them to private parties

� ALMs are expected to have ahefty bank balance for theadoption policy. But most ALMsfail this criterion. BMC thengives out the open space underthe caretaker policy

� Twenty-five per centcommercial exploitation willhurt open spaces above 5,000 sq m as private parties can buildclubs or gyms

� 8 recreation ground (RGs) plotsout of 11 given under caretakerpolicy violated lease agreements

Clubs built on these RGs� Matoshree Club, Jogeshwari

� Kamala Vihar Sports Complex,Poisar

� MIG Club, Bandra

� Mandapeshwar Club, Borivli

� Wellington Club, Santa Cruz

� Prabodhankar ThackersaySports Complex, Vile Parle

� Prabodhan Krida Bhavan,Goregaon

PROTECTION POLICY OR AN EYEWASH?

CITIZENS FOR THE CITY

Mumbai: The governmentexpects to collect around Rs1,000 crore a year by charginga premium for allowing build-ers in the suburbs to avail of33% extra FSI. It will sharehalf the amount with theBMC. The money will be usedto augment Mumbai’s infras-tructure. The premium willbe based on the ready reckon-er rate for land. FSI definesthe permissible built-up areaon a plot.

The permissible FSI inMumbai’s suburbs is restrict-ed to just 1, but a developer canload another 1 FSI by buyingTDR from the market. “Themaximum cap of FSI 2 for pro-jects in the suburbs still re-mains,” said Ashish KumarSingh, secretary to the CM’soffice. Industry sources saidthe current price of TDR is Rs2,500 a square foot.

The government’s premi-um based on the ready reckon-er rate could be mostly in therange of Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 asq ft, except in areas such asBandra, Khar, Santa Cruz andPowai. In these areas, the gov-ernment premium may turnout to be more expensive thanTDR because the land rateshere are astronomical.

But a developer said theBandra-Khar belt has neverbeen the common man’s mar-

ket. “But property prices inareas beyond Andheri in thewestern suburbs and Mulundin the eastern belt could re-duce,” he said. Builder Sand-eep Runwal said he expectsTDR prices to dip followingthe CM’s decision. “Homeprices will become afforda-ble,” he said.

An industry source said

the demand for TDR wasaround 12 lakh square metresevery year. “However, thisyear the TDR demand is downby 70% because of the slow-down in the property mar-ket,” said the source. At pre-sent, roughly 25,000 sq m ofTDR is available in the mar-ket, most of which is held by acouple of slum redevelopers.

Extra FSI earning tofund infra projects

Nauzer K Bharucha TNN

Mumbai: A special policesquad from the west region on

Wednesday arrested three per-sons of a gang which had looteda Navi Mumbai jewellery shoplast month. The robbers were ar-rested while they were on theirway to loot another shop at Ban-dra (west). However, two of theiraccomplices managed to flee.

On September 26, the ganghad barged into Shree SwamiSamarth Jewellers store in Ka-mothe, in Navi Mumbai. Theyescaped with ornaments worthRs 11.5 lakh and fired a fewrounds in the air when peopleraised an alarm. The police saidthat accused Mohammad Sha-rif Khan (43), Namdev Karan(44) and Sanjay Gangude (40)had dozens of criminal offencesregistered against them.

Three held for jewellery

shop burglaryVijay V Singh TNN

Mumbai: Underworld gang-ster and undertrial Abu Salemhas written a letter to the Bom-bay high court expressing ap-prehension that the CBI andMaharashtra police may try tokill him in a fake encounter.The letter, in which Salem hassought “proper security”, hasbeen converted into a petition.

Adivision bench of JusticeAM Khanwilkar and Justice PD Kode on Thursday issued anotice to the CBI and askedthem to respond to the petitionbefore the next hearing, sched-uled for December 7, 2011.

Salem is presently lodgedin Taloja central prison andhas nine criminal cases pend-ing against him. He was extra-

dited from Portugal in 2005and is also an accused in the1993 Mumbai serial blastscase. Last month, a Portuguesecourt had cancelled Salem'sextradition. According to Sa-lem, his petition is pending inthe Portugal court. “In order tosabotage my efforts to seek jus-tice and uphold my humanrights, the CBI or Maharash-tra police may implicate me ina false case or try to eliminateme in a fake encounter,” Salem

has written in his letter. Salem fears the police may

try to show that he escapedwhile being taken to court. Heurged the court to order thestate to provide him proper se-curity. Additional public pros-ecutor Madhavi Mhatresought time to file a reply.

Cops may try to killme, Salem tells HC

Shibu Thomas TNN

Mumbai: A 55-year-oldbutcher was stabbed todeath in his Nagpada shopon Thursday by one of hisdistributors. AccusedShaukat Ali used one of vic-tim Jameel Qureshi’s ownknives to kill him.

The incident took placeat 4.15 pm at Qureshi’s shopin Surti Mohalla, near JJjunction in South Mumbai.

A police team reachedthe spot by 4.30 and foundQureshi’s body lying in apool of blood. They alsofound Ali lying on the shop

floor with serious injurieson his body and rushed himto JJ Hospital, where he re-mains in the ICU in a criti-

cal condition. Locals said they heard

Qureshi scream for helparound 4:15 pm. “When wereached his shop, we saw Alitrying to flee the scene.Some of us locked him in-side the shop and alertedthe police,” said Irfan Man-soori, a social worker fromthe area.

“We think Ali got scaredand tried to commit sui-cide,” said Ravi Thakur, as-sistant commissioner of po-lice (Dongri). Qureshi, aresident of Nauspora inBandra, is survived by hiswife and seven children. Hehad been running the mut-ton shop for 20 years, andhad been dealing with Alifor almost five years.

Butcher murdered

with own knifeMahima Sikand TNN

Mumbai:Four men were ar-rested by the Andheri policeafter they fraudulentlytransferred Rs 2.58 lakh fromthe bank account of an un-suspecting citizen into theirown account. Officials sus-pect that at least 40 other citi-zens may have been connedby the gang.

The accused submittedforged documents to a lead-ing mobile service providerto obtain a duplicate SIMcard in the victim’s name.They then used netbankingservices for the funds trans-fer. At least three more per-sons are wanted in the case.

The accused, all Thaneresidents, have been identi-fied as Jhangur Prasad Gup-ta (24), Irshad Solanki (21),

Prabhu Patwa (22) and Chan-drakant Kamble (19).

The police said the ac-cused posed as employees ofthe mobile service providerand called up the victim,Andheri resident Mahesh

Bapat (46), on October 2. The gang collected infor-

mation from Bapat and usedit to produce bogus docu-ments and obtain a duplicateSIM card.

They got Bapat's originalSIM card deactivated after

claiming that it had been sto-len, and also produced a fakepolice NC.

On October 3, three mem-bers of the gang used net-banking sevices from the du-plicate SIM to transfer fundsout of Bapat’s account. “Thebank staff, unaware that Ba-pat’s SIM had been duplicat-ed, sent a message to hisnumber, seeking approvalbefore the transfer. The ac-cused replied to the text inthe affirmative,” said seniorinspector Pradeep Gosavi.

On October 3, they trans-ferred Rs 2.58 lakh from Ba-pat's account into 11 others.They were trying to con fourother persons when the copsapprehended them. The fouraccused have been remand-ed in custody till October 25by a metropolitan court.

Gang transfers `̀2.6L fromAndheri man’s a/c, busted

The accusedobtained aduplicate SIM in thevictim’s name andused netbanking totransfer the money

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

It is perplexing why the CM delayed approving the .33 FSIproposal despite the state government issuing an ordinancelast year. For once, builders were justified to bitterly complain

about this dithering, especially when it would earn thegovernment several hundred crores a year as premium.Thursday's decision does not increase FSI in the suburbs, hencethe policy will not further burden the already over-stretched civicinfrastructure.

Times View

What is TDR?The transfer of developmentrights (TDR) policy was launchedin 1991 to decongest the islandcity. Owners whose plots weremarked for playgrounds etc orwhose land was needed for road-widening, could surrender theirland and get an equal amount ofspace in the suburbs. Slum TDRwas introduced in ’97. Buildersredeveloping slums for free willreceive slum TDR, which can beused north of the scheme

What is FSI?FSI refers to the buildable area ona plot of land. An FSI of 1 meansthe area of construction shouldbe equal to the area of the plot.

For example, a plot of 10,000 sqft can only have a built-up area of

10,000 sq ft and no more. FSI forMumbai suburbs is 1, but another1 FSI can be loaded by buying

TDR. This means a plot of

10,000 sq ft can have a built-

up area of 20,000 sq ft.

Mumbai: It has been a roller-coaster ride for the state eversince it announced the policy

to charge builders premiumon .33 FSI in the suburbs inearly 2008. While most build-ers welcomed the proposal, thedecision is believed to have in-furiated the powerful TDR lob-by, which tried to scuttle themove through some politic-ians and babus. The state hadalleged that the TDR cartel,which was responsible fordriving flat prices to exorbi-tant levels, was behind the op-position.

Within a couple of months,a petition was filed in the Bom-bay high court, challenging

the government's decision onthe grounds that it would leadto a construction boom, whichwould severely burden the civ-ic infrastructure.

In June 2010, the state gov-ernment suffered a setbackwhen the court quashed theproposal. A division benchheld that the state was not em-powered to levy such a premi-um under the existing rules,including the MaharashtraRegional Town Planning Act.The ruling was a big blow tobuilders and suburban hous-ing societies waiting for rede-velopment. It was particularlyembarrassing to the govern-ment, which had already col-lected around Rs 500 crore aspremium before the court an-

nounced its verdict. The state finance depart-

ment had set a target of Rs1,400 crore for that year. Thepremium was to be charged on

the basis of the ready reckonerrates for land, from Rs 4,000 persq m in Manori to Rs 23,000 sqm in posh Bandra. Late lastyear, the government issuedan ordinance to nullify thehigh court order. However,chief minister Prithviraj Cha-van did not sign the file for

months, much to the conster-nation of builders. While theBMC wanted the CM to ap-prove it, the urban develop-ment department raised someobjections to the proposal, stat-ing that it would burden the ex-isting civic infrastructure.

Roller-coaster ride for TDRNauzer K Bharucha TNN

Deadlock between nurses andthe Asian Heart Institute’s

management remained unresolvedon Thursday with 250 nurses onstrike demanding the return oftheir education certificates. TNN

Hosp stir continues

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