‘Include all city’s heritage structures in DP 2034’ :Hindustan Times

BMC should seek its permission for redeveloping Grade-III heritage bldgs

MUMBAI: In a move to preserve the city’s herita g e structures, the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) has asked that stricter norms be incorporated in the development plan (DP) 2034.

The DP 2034 is a blueprint of the city’s development for the next 20 years.

A meeting to discuss the inclusion of heritage structures in the DP 2034 was held at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters on Wednesday.

The meeting was chaired by special officer Ramanath Jha, who heads the DP revision team.

MHCC told Jha that all the structures listed as heritage sites in the government notifications must be included in the revised DP 2034.

“We conveyed that marking every structure individually on the map is not necessary. Instead, it could be mentioned in the DP 2034 that all structures notified by the government from time to time will fall under the heritage norms. This will leave no scope for missing out on marking any particular structure,” said V Ranganathan, chair man of MHCC.

The civic body had earlier faced flak from heritage conservationists and urban planners after it missed out on marking heritage structures in the draft development plan.

The MHCC also demanded that seeking the committee’s permission should be made mandatory for the redevelopment of Grade- III heritage buildings or in Grade-III precincts.

“The changed development control rules mention that the MHCC’s permission is not required for Grade-III heritage buildings or precincts. We want this clause to be removed. Also, we demanded that financial incentives be given to owners of heritage buildings for maintaining the structure,” said Ranganathan.

Despite several attempts, Jha remained unavailable for comment.