Bureaucratese.

Byline: Infrastructure Today

Bureaucratese 

There is urgency on the part of the government towards the infrastructure transformation agenda

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is responsible for the development of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and its rapidly growing hinterland. It was set up on January 26, 1975 under the aegis of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act, 1974, Government of Maharashtra as an apex body for planning and coordination of development activities in the region. Executive Editor SHRIKANT RAO met Ashwini Bhide, IAS, Joint Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA for an understanding of the organisation's transformation agenda for Mumbai and its adjoining region. Excerpts:

Could you briefly take us through the progress made by the MMRDA since its establishment thirty four years ago?

From 1975 up to almost 2003, MMRDA basically remained a regional planning development organisation. We had a very strong planning division with us with a battery of planners who were responsible for the macro level planning for the entire region. They marked various development zones, the urbanisable areas. They basically tried to navigate development within the region taking into consideration the way the entire region was developing. In addition to that this division of MMRDA was also helping urban local bodies within the region to have various infrastructure projects. For this, financial and technical assistance was provided either in the form of grant or soft loans. So in both ways we are trying to develop the region. Then in 2003 MMRDA's Act was amended and then we took up the responsibility for infrastructure development within the city as well in the MMR region.

Give an idea of MMRDA's focus on infrastructure?

In 2003 initially we undertook about 18 major arterial roads from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and we tried to widen and concretise them. That was a huge task because most of these roads were basically missing links. They were existing only on paper and most of these areas were encroached by slums and in order to shift these people we had to create major housing stock. Towards that end we also donned the role of SRA or the Slum Rehabilitation Authority. Those powers were also given to MMRDA. So under certain provisions of Development Control Rules, we approved many projects where private developers could develop their own private plots and hand over to us the houses in lieu of TDRs. We could generate a stock of about 60,000 such houses admeasuring about 225 sq ft each and some commercial tenements also, without spending much. Ofcourse, initially till the time this scheme was actually formalised and we could get houses, we bought some houses from MHADA. In addition to that MMRDA was Special Planning Authority for certain areas in Mumbai. One is of course the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), where the MMRDA is housed. That was a marshy land initially which was reclaimed and an additional land mass was created. It was properly planned by us. Then there is the Oshiwara district centre and the Backbay Reclamation, where we are the Special Planning Authority (SPA). In addition to that there are also some villages, deleted from the jurisdiction of Kalyan Bhiwandi Corporation - there are 56 of them - which are urbanisable. There too MMRDA has a role to play as SPA. Now I think the focus has slightly shifted and we have now formalised a policy saying that MMRDA will be primarily responsible for creation of regional infrastructure. So we are looking at developments on all the major roads connecting the various urban centres within the region. These could be in the form of flyovers or maybe other transport infrastructure like Metro, Monorail, road network or projects like multi modal corridor, a kind of ring route within the region which will connect the northernmost parts of the MMR with the southernmost.

Tell us about the feedback obtained from the comprehensive transport study and business plan?

We have already entered into huge infrastructure projects and from that point of view we are greatly aided by the comprehensive transport study and a business plan for the region up to 2031. The study was instituted in 2005 and completed in 2007. So if we are to begin from say 2006, for the first 10, 15 and 25 years we have identified the development horizons - 2016, 2021 and 2031. We now have something like a roadmap before us, especially for the transport infrastructure projects for the entire region. MMRDA will be the major player in bringing about this transformation. Ofcourse there will some part played by the Indian Railways as we also require additional suburban railway work. Some portion will be with the concerned urban local bodies (ULBs). Then there will be organisations like MCGM, BEST, MSRDC, but the main focus will be centered around MMRDA in terms of creation of transport infrastructure. From the business plan that we have prepared we have an assessment of the movements of people within the region. We have seen that the population outside Mumbai will increase. From 2021 onwards the situation will change; by 2031 the population in the rest of the MMR will be more than that of Mumbai. With that in view we are trying to cope up with the increasing infrastructure needs in the rest of the region. We know that the ULB's may not be able to fulfill them on their own so MMRDA has stepped in. Right now we are trying to see what will be the anticipated housing stock required which will also prevent slum creation in Mumbai. So we are entering into rental housing outside the city. We plan to create rental housing stock of five lakh units within MMR in the next five years. We are also seeing how more jobs can be created outside. We are also looking at additional water requirements. We want to own and invest in resources, want to supply bulk water to all ULBs. It will be in the form of a commercial venture. In addition to that we are also assessing the power shortfall and the additional power requirement.

There is always a criticism that the government tends to make plans but always go slow on projects for various reasons. What is it that you are doing to do to ensure that these projects are on schedule and will go according to your plans?

Whatever is to be implemented by MMRDA, we have started doing it in-house with the expertise that we have. For example MMRDA will be responsible for the creation of a metro network of almost 450 km that has been envisaged for the city. Out of that 150 km of the network is within the city and is to be completed by 2016. So MMRDA has already started working on it. The first corridor is already in process, the second is almost complete. The third corridor we are now working out. DPRs are being prepared for the next three corridors. That MMRDA is taking care of. The steps that we are supposed to do after 2016 will be slowly taken up after we complete the planning of other projects. Of course, there are projects to be undertaken by other agencies. There we probably will need to push a little bit harder.

Does MMRDA have the mandate to crack the whip or is there a separate mechanism set up to ensure that work progresses smoothly and as per schedule?

The state government has already established Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) where all these people are partners. It has not yet started functioning fully. MMRDA will basically be the convener and UMTA will, to use your term, crack the whip. Its mandate is to be a monitoring agency for transport infrastructure projects in MMRDA. It will have to bring all the agencies under one forum as such. Though it has been decided that UMTA will play a role of a monitor for the moment it appears to be taking on more of an advisory role. Right now there are many groups each working to give a road map for the city. Once things gets crystallised, UMTA's role will be more defined. UMTA is like a monitoring agency, for transport infrastructure projects in the MMR.

Is there a sense of urgency in the portals of power to complete the tasks at hand because there is a perception that Maharashtra is losing out to other states development wise?

MMRDA in the last one year, ever since the completion of the comprehensive transport study, has taken many steps further. The Maharashtra government has given us flexibility and freedom. So for whatever projects we are launching, all necessary backing - whether in terms of procedural support or administrative framework - we have received from the state government. Yes, I think there is a sense of urgency on the part of the government towards the infrastructure transformation agenda.

Is transport infrastructure number one on your plan? Tell us about your transformation agenda there and the progress made in each sector?

At the moment yes, transport is number one on our priorities since there are many transport projects going on. Right now our first target is to complete the metro rail project first in the city by 2016 in the city and then in the rest of the MMR - the network is about 450 km - by 2031. We are also looking at the BRTS for which a feasibility study was instituted. We have received the report. There the BEST will be the lead partner and MMRDA will be aiding by providing financial assistance. Right now the committee is examining the reports. In the case of the BRTS, initially, the focus of planning will be the Eastern Express Highway and Western Express Highway. After gaining experience on these tracks we will go further. Then we also have the monorail. As far as the Metro goes, our first corrdor, Versova-Andheri- Ghatkopar, which is 11.2 km, is in progress. It is PPP project and as per the concession agreement it should be completed in 2012. We are trying to prepone it and have the ambitious target of making it operational in 2010 itself. Right now the metro project is on a full swing. Almost 95 per cent of the right of way has already been acquired; more than 50 per cent of the piling work for the elevated structure is over. As far as the second, the 32 km long Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Corridor, which is also an elevated structure, is concerned, it also being launched on PPP basis We have received the bid and very shortly a final decision will be taken by the Committee and the project will start. The Colaba-Bandra corridor which will further link the airport and is underground may not be feasible on a PPP basis in view of the huge viability gap funding it requires, so we are exploring. Right now we are in the process of appointing consultants to examine the possibility of underground commercial development as it is there in Seoul or Tokyo. We are confident that it will basically offset the huge project cost. While we are in the process of working on the three corridors, we are also involved in preparing DPRs for the other corridors. The first monorail in India has already been launched by MMRDA. It is a 20 km stretch from Jacob Circle to Wadala and then to Chembur. That we are doing as a cash contract. It being the first monorail project in India, and owing to lack of experience, we could not do it on PPP basis. The contractors are in place. A joint venture of L&T and Scomi Engineering of Malaysia is involved in this project. Work has already started on a stretch of about 5 km. We are trying to have seamless integration on all our transportation modes.

The skywalks must also provide a welcome addition?

Yes very much. The 1.5 km skywalk launched by MMRDA in Bandra last year has been a huge success. More than 1 lakh people use it daily because it directly connects the Bandra railway station to the Bandra Kurla Complex. We are happy because the usage of the skywalk is as per our expectations. Certain improvements are possible in terms of design, like making skywalks more aesthetic. We are planning for about 61 skywalks in the MMR region in cities. These will come up in places like Ulhasnagar, Thane and Mira-Bhayendar. We are now thinking of exploiting the advertising potential of these skywalks. When the Bandra skywalk was ready we had the bids for the advertisements along with the maintenance contract and we had in fact got a price of Rs 79 crore for that skywalk which had costed us about Rs 13 crore. So those were the kind of returns we expected but unfortunately things didn't happen due to the recession and

the bidder backed out - he had paid Rs 10 crore to us as security deposit, which has been forfeited. All the skywalks may not fetch us those kind of revenues - some of them have been planned in congested areas for pedestrians and may not have great visibility from the advertisement point of view - but we hope to recover our costs. We are exploring the possibility of whether we can float tenders for all the skywalks or whether we can bundle them depending on their advertisement potential. All the skywalks will be in place by next May.

What is the extent the rehabilitation in your transportation projects?

We have rehabilitated 52000 people in the last four to five years for

the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). Then there are the major link roads Santacruz-Chembur and Jogeshwari Vikhroli where there were lot of encroachments - there almost 18,000 people have been rehabilitated. The other project is the MUIP - the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP) where for the widening of 18 roads we have had to rehabilitate more than 12000 people. In future projects, like instance the Metro and monorail, the quantum of rehabilitation will be lesser. Having learnt lessons from the past we are now trying to keep the rehabilitation component as minimum as possible through technological solutions. We are also trying to take care of the social, cultural and psychological impact of shifting.

Can you briefly give us an understanding of the role you play as Joint Commissioner, MMRDA?

As far as my role goes I look after all the infrastructure projects being implemented by our engineering division. This includes all major road projects, skywalks. I am entirely looking after the monorail project, have a partial role in the implementation of metro projects. I am also looking at rehabilitation and resettlement of all the project affected and right of way issues. In addition to that I also have the responsibility for the Nirmal sanitation campaign which MMRDA has launched. It has been decided to construct about 30,000 toilet seats at the estimated cost of approximately Rs 250 crore in the jurisdiction of 5 Municipal corporations and 13 Municipal Councils falling in jurisdiction of Metropolitan Region excluding Brihanmumbai Mahangarpalika and Navi Mumbai Mahapalika. The cost of construction of these toilets will be borne by MMRDA on grant basis and the funds will allotted to the Urban Local Bodies. I am also a part of the team which will be looking after the innovation park in Mumbai - there are a few examples of such parks worldwide, there is one in France.

What are the major challenges being faced in the implementation of projects?

There are many issues involved. There are structural challenges which are posed by the way the city of Mumbai is geographically shaped. Then there are social challenges emanating from the public perception of these projects and the so-called opposition to them - this comes in the form of land acquisition hurdles and problems of rehabilitation. Land acquisition is a major issue since most of the government land is encroached by many people from the slums and you cannot just remove them, they have to be shifted and rehabilitated properly. We have to have a rehabilitation policy in place, create a lot of housing stock for them. But unfortunately even if you give them good living facilities they are not willing to relocate to new housing colonies as they fear losing their livelihoods - it depends on the locations where they stay. For that we have to take care of post rehabilitation needs. For that we have created a livelihood cell within MMRDA. We are also trying to create self employment opportunities for women and also set up an industrial cooperative where they can find some work. So these are some things that you have to take care of perpetually. Then there are of course administrative and financial challenges.

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