Summary Proceedings of the Meeting held by MEDC - Bombay First, 
on 17th Oct.-2003, Convention Hall, Y. B. Chavan Centre.


The participants stressed on the need for introspection about Vision of what Mumbai should be in the next ten years time. 

Mr. Sanjay Ubale, Mr. M.N. Chaini, Mr. Ajit Nimbalkar. The Chief Secretary pointed out that we should visualize how Mumbai can become a thriving Metropolis once again. Various meetings are being arranged to get a feedback from people of Mumbai. The Government, he said, would like to involve Mumbaikars at various levels and course of action needs to be made accordingly. There is a great need for interchange of ideas. In other words, Vision building should be people - oriented.

Mr. Sanjay Ubale, Secretary to Chief Minister, suggested that we need to put up a vision, so that people can react on it. This would help in making improvements upon our vision and on the basis of the feedback, the final vision can Mr. Sanjay Ubale making suggestions. be formulated. Meetings like this would also give inputs and accordingly the vision can be improved upon. Since everybody is involved, there is an urgent need to create a shared vision.


Based on ultimate / shared vision and goals for Mumbai (in the next 10-15 yrs), a strategy needs to be formulated. An appropriate strategy for Mumbai should involve :

  1. Improvement in physical and social infrastructure.

  2. Housing

  3. Governance

  4. Economic Development

  5. Aesthetic Sense


Once the strategy is formulated, identify the projects on priority basis, giving more attention to the ones, which are more important for common man. Next step after projects identification will be to chalk out the detailed action plan for Mumbai. While deciding upon action plan one should also specify the time frame within which it will be implemented.

Mr. A. Nimbalkar.


Proper implementation is very crucial part of the process. There is a great need for effective implementation of the action plan. The process of implementation needs continuous monitoring by responsible authorities. 



 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Movement towards Eastern Suburbs : Western suburbs are now bursting at the seams. Thus there is a need for decongestion of Western suburbs of Mumbai on priority. This can be done by incentivising people to move towards Eastern suburbs. In this context, Trans - harbour Link will help. Also efforts are needed to attract more people to Navi Mumbai. There is lot of potential for Eastward movement, and a satellite town could come up in that part of city. When Sewri - JNPT sea link would complete, a lot of hinterlands would be thrown open to people. So there is need to think about how this area should be developed and ill effects of pollution could be avoided in the future.

 

 

 

 


 

Financial aspect of the Project : Another issue which came up was "how are we going to generate the money to materialize the vision". Certain suggestions were made in this regard :

  • Increase FSI or give more FSI and charge a premium on it. Revenue generated from additional FSI would go to a Corpus for financing infrastructure.

  • Create seed money out of sale of real estate.

  • Help could be sought from NRI community for financing some of these projects.

  • There is lot of land under lease (about 5000-10,000 acres), a minimal amount of toll on it would also raise funds. 



 
 

 
 

Rapid transport system for the masses : Suburbs have increased over the years, so the movement of the people increased. There is an urgent need for revamping the transport system, which would enable fast movement of people through road, rail and sea route. Participants felt that there should be a specific meeting on transport issue, where status of suburban links needs to be discussed upon. Also, reduction in time frame of construction should be discussed.

 



 
 
 
 
  		Beautification of Mumbai : As far as beautification is concerned, private participation is required.

  1. Regarding beautification of old buildings, plan for entire area instead of each or individual building is required (without government funds).

  2. In case of area beautification, each area (entire area not a patch) should be allocated for development to various companies like HDFC, ICICI etc.



 
 

 

Housing of slum dwellers : Slum dwellers should be housed in a better way. In various forums, leaders of all the political parties have agreed on this issue. For this, economic activity should be decentralized and ways and means to provide dignified life for people in slums needs to be evolved. Introspection is needed on this aspect.

 



 

 

Marketing of Mumbai : There is a need felt for marketing of Mumbai. Special groups, focus areas and core competencies need to be identified. Mumbai could be developed as Educational Center, Tourist Center and Medical Tourist hub.

 


 

 

Cleanliness in Mumbai : Attention should be given on the issues like cleanliness of roads, proper clearing/disposal of garbage etc.

 


Governance : Issues were also raised about governance, who actually rules the Mumbai. One suggestion was that e-governance need to be implemented. 

Certain projects identified by the group and various agencies, which could be involved in those projects are -

Projects Agencies Involved
 Improvement of CST , Dadar & Kurla Railway station  FICCI, CII
 Slum Rehabilitation (starting with Dharavi and area near Airport)  NGO's
 Cleanliness of Roads , Cleaning Garbage  BMC
 Improvement in Parking problems  Traffic Department
 Impetus to Economic Development
  		 Chambers of Commerce 
 & Industry

Concluding Remarks by Mr. Sanjay Ubale :


 

Avoid problem-solving mode, as it works backwards but we should look at much bigger vision and more forward approach. 


 

In case of Urban Renewal Schemes and Area Improvement Schemes, local initiatives are critical.

For Solid Waste Management, professional companies need to be employed. 

There is an urgent need to change behavioral patterns among ourselves.


 

About road construction, Government is working on a model. It is thinking of giving maintenance to Private Companies like L& T , ACC, so as to minimize potholes.

MEDC Role in Vision Building 

The Government of Maharashtra has requested MEDC to act as a coordinator between Government of Maharashtra and general public to give suggestion and views on proposed Vision for Mumbai.