MUMBAI: The Bombay high court last week allowed the redevelopment of the municipal market at Santacruz (East), which had been held up over a dispute between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state government over valuation of the 846 sqm plot.
In September 2002, the BMC had passed a resolution to allow redevelopment of the plot and in February 2004, the state approved the resolution with certain modifications. Accordingly, the BMC had, in August 2006, allowed redevelopment of the municipal market, which had 110 stalls.
Acting on the permission, the developer, Krishna Associates, paid Rs39.26 lakh towards balcony enclosure premium, and the intimation of disapproval was issued on February 21, 2009 in favour of the developer. However, when the developer approached the sub-divisional officer seeking permission for excavation of soil for redevelopment, the SDO rejected the application saying the plot stood in the name of the state and was yet to be handed over to the civic body.
The state government had refused to transfer the plot in the name of BMC on grounds that the civic body had failed to pay Rs14.92 crore towards its market price, and also rejected a proposal by the civic body to reduce the market price of the plot, as it was required for a public amenity.
In this backdrop, the developer approached t he high court seeking direction to the authorities to allow them to proceed with the redevelopment. A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Revati MohiteDere noted that the plot was in possession of BMC since 1976 when the municipal market was constructed, and the state had, in express terms, allowed redevelopment of the market.
No comments:
Post a Comment