Despite the assurances from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that city rivers and nullahs will have buffer zones, they have not been marked uniformly in the revised draft Development Plan
Despite the assurances from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that city rivers and nullahs will have buffer zones, they have not been marked uniformly in the revised draft Development Plan (DP) 2034. This could cause serious problems like human and financial loss if a calamity like 26/7 deluge happens, activists have warned.
In the earlier draft DP prepared last year, the BMC had failed to mark the buffer zones earning the ire of civic activists from the city. Taking note of this, the civic body in its revised DP rectified the error and marked the buffer zones, saying that they would also be counted as open spaces.
The BMC in its revised draft DP has said, “The city has several low-lying areas that are prone to seasonal flooding whenever heavy rainfall coincides with high tides. To mitigate the flood vulnerability, the draft proposes to demarcate buffers zones along rivers, creeks and nullahs, which are to be maintained as development free zones, reducing flooding risks by permitting water bodies to flood their banks.”
However, activists have pointed out that buffer zones have not been marked uniformly. “The BMC has failed to learn any lessons from July 26, 2005 Mumbai floods or even the recent floods in Chennai. The revised DP has arbitrarily marked some portions and has left other parts unmarked,” said Godfrey Pimenta from the Watchdog Foundation.
The Dr Madhav Chitale Committee, appointed by the state government had made recommendations for the development of lands falling under such buffer zones.
A senior civic official from the DP department said that it’s an error of overlapping.
He said, “The buffer zones have been marked in the revised DP, but they are not seen due to overlapping of designations. It would be corrected in due course.”
According to civic officials, in case of nullahs more than 10 ft, the buffer zone would be six feet on both the sides and in case of less than 10 ft, it can be on either side of the nullah. In case of rivers, the buffer zones have earmarked according to the specifications of the state.
