MUMBAI: The area being developed in and around Vidhan Bhavan or Mantralaya station of the upcoming underground Metro Rail Line 3 (Cuffe Parade to Seepz Andheri via Bandra and airport) will house the offices of political parties and government offices, besides several commercial and corporate facilities.
The state government on Friday put up a revised GR asking the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL), which is building the 34km underground mass transit corridor connecting the island city with suburbs, to compensate parties and offices with over 1.14 lakh square feet of area at the same location against their land and properties which existed before their acquisition for the project.
Around seven political parties and 29 government offices had sprawling premises on the land where the Vidhan Bhavan or Mantralaya station of the Metro 3 is coming up. For station area development, an FSI of 4 is likely to be used as the state has already given similar permission to Pune metro. The higher FSI will create a huge space in and around the station. The value of around 1,135,00sq feet land acquired by MMRCL comes to around Rs 427 crore. “This value should be included as the share of the state government in the project cost,” said the GR issued by the state urban development (UD) department.
Before actually using the land pieces for development activities, the MMRCL will have the responsibility to ensure requisite permissions from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and also the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) as the area falls within the municipal and CRZ limits, respectively, suggested the GR.
The MMRCL will have to protect the areas from any encroachments and seek related permissions from the planning authorities such as MMRDA and the heritage conservation committee. A senior government officer said under the detailed project report, the area of political parties and government offices that has been acquired for the metro project has been shown as the source of Rs 1,000 crore revenue for the government. “Hence, the cost of the land should be part of the state’s share in the development of the project,” he added, pointing out that since the earlier GR was in the name of MMRDA, the revised GR has been issued in the name of MMRCL, the metro rail arm of the state govt, which is building Metro 3.
Source: The Times of India
