Fate of Worli Dairy sealed, to be developed by Sena-controlled BMC

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 Ravikiran Deshmukh Aquarium, Aslam Shaikh, BMC, Congress, CRZ, Development Plan, Exhibition Center, land development, Marine Research, Shiv Sena, Sunil Kedar, Taraporewala, Uddhav Thackeray, Worli Dairy

In an important development, the sprawling 14-acre land parcel of Worli dairy will be developed by Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and not by its original titleholder- the state dairy development department which is headed by a Congressman.

According to a valuation done at the behest of dairy development minister Sunil Kedar, the Worli piece of land is worth Rs 4,547 Cr. In another development, the land will be developed to house a marine research institute, exhibition center, and an aquarium, and not as a tourism center along with an aquarium as announced in the state’s annual budget for the year 2020-21. It was presented by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar who also holds the responsibility of the state finance and planning department.

Reservation to be changed

Accordingly, the reservation of land is being changed to be enabled to carry out the development work. For this, the state government has issued a notification inviting suggestions and objections from the general public.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray has decided to hand over this prime piece of land to BMC for the development, cost of which can be in crores. This decision may come as a surprise when the state government and the dairy department, which owns the land, have been carefully side-lined while entrusting the job to the BMC. Interestingly, the BMC entered into the picture through a written request very recently.

Congress minister wanted to monetize

While the state dairy department is with Sunil Kedar, the fisheries department is headed by Aslam Sheikh and both are from the Congress. Kedar, a few months ago, carried out a valuation exercise of the land parcels of all the dairies and chilling centers across the state. He has expressed his desire to monetize these land parcels from a commercial viewpoint. According to the valuation, the value of the Worli land was calculated based on the ready reckoner (R&R) prices for 2019-20.

Nonetheless, the notification clarifies that the existing building that houses the administrative wing of the dairy development department including the office of the state dairy development commissioner will remain with the department. It means the department will have its say on the existing office building only.

Dairy’s land comes under CRZ

The plot of the Worli Dairy comes under the residential zone of the development plan (DP) for Mumbai. It also attracts provisions of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ). The decision on modalities of the development of Worli Dairy was taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister in March this year. Subsequently, in August, the BMC wrote to the state government expressing its desire to develop the dairy plot. It appears with the chronology of the developments that a meeting held in September, chaired by Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, approved the proposal.

Taraporewala aquarium refurbished in 2015

Here, it must be noted that the Taraporewala Aquarium at Marine Drive, was renovated and opened to the general public in the year 2015. This approximately Rs 20 Cr work was done by the state public works department (PWD). Inaugurated in the year 1951 by the then President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the aquarium is named after D. B. Taraporewala, a philanthropist who made a generous donation for its construction.

Dairies have huge tracts of land

Meanwhile, according to the exercise done by the dairy development department earlier this year, the dairies closed down due to various reasons and have 159 hectares of land with them. Its minister Sunil Kedar wants to develop these land parcels to monetize them and protect them from encroachments. The government is set to gain hugely in terms of revenue, he had said. Currently, 44 dairies are functional and have with them 134 hectares of land worth over Rs 10,000 crore. The Aarey Dairy, spread over an area of 759 hectares, is valued at over Rs 300 crore as most of the area of it has been categorized as a no-development zone (NDZ).