MUMBAI: Opposition leaders in the BMC on Tuesday opposed the civic administration’s policy of developing municipal properties through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, alleging that it amounted to the “privatisation” of assets belonging to Mumbai’s citizens and “daylight loot of municipal assets”.
“By handing over open plots, schools, gardens, playgrounds and municipal markets to private developers, financial losses worth crores of rupees are being inflicted on the corporation. In short, this policy is detrimental to the BMC,” she added. “Under the PPP model, towering multi-storey school buildings are being handed over as gifts to private organisations. This is a direct attempt to strangle the civic education system. Supporting Pednekar, Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi accused the BJP of backtracking on its election commitments. “In your vision document during the elections, you had mentioned that open spaces would not be given to anyone. Your vision document did not stand before Adani’s might,” Azmi alleged. He also alleged that the Coastal Road gardens being developed by Reliance would also eventually be privatised. However, leader of the house, Ganesh Khankar, rejected the repeated references to prominent industrialists.
Azmi further claimed that since June 2024 itself, 17 reservations had been altered.
Kishori Pednekar, opposition leader in the BMC, described the policy as “extremely suicidal and suspicious” and alleged that the administration was using it as a cover to hand over civic properties to private developers. “The privatisation initiated by the administration under the guise of PPP of properties rightfully belonging to the people of Mumbai is a matter of serious concern,” Pednekar said. Instead of strengthening its own schools, the corporation has rolled out a red carpet for private entities,” she said. Warning the administration against proceeding with the policy, Pednekar said, “If the administration does not immediately pull the plug on this anti-people policy, the opposition will not allow the corporation to function and will launch an aggressive public agitation alongside citizens on the streets of Mumbai against this daylight loot of municipal assets. “It has become a trend to attribute everything to Adani and Ambani, not just here but in the standing committee and improvements committee meetings as well,” Khankar said. Avinash Dhakne, additional municipal commissioner, eastern suburbs, said PPP is not new. Tenders for five civic schools have been floated under the PPP model and a committee has been established to look into objections raised by some corporators, he said.
