Mumbai: Following the HC order halting further construction of transit camp buildings on BMC land reserved for expansion of the Worli sewage treatment plant (STP), a meeting was held at the urban development (UD) department on Tuesday, along with officials from the BMC and SRA, to deliberate on the court’s directions.The HC asked the state govt and BMC to file affidavits clarifying whether the original STP land parcel of 27,964.04 sq m was legally reduced to 17,756.4 sq m at the behest of the housing department without undertaking a minor modification to the Development Plan under Section 37 of the MRTP Act.Officials said the meeting focused on whether the reduced STP land area needs to be restored to ensure the plant’s full functionality, with the govt describing the STP as “critical infrastructure”, akin to a kidney in the city’s sanitation system.A June 2024 communication from the state govt to BMC showed how the area for the STP was reduced by 10,208 sq m. The letter to the CEO, SRA and BMC commissioner, a copy of which is with TOI, showed that BMC had requested transfer of an area of 17,756.40 sq m in accordance with DC Rules 2034. This was in place of the earlier proposed 27,034 sq m earmarked for the pumping station.The meeting examined the matter in the wake of the court order. According to civic sources, the raw material for setting up the STP at Worli was already procured, but it lay in a godown at Bhiwandi as work on construction of the STP had not taken off yet.Congress party leader in the BMC Ashraf Azmi, in a letter sent to the BMC chief, demanded issuance of clear written instructions prohibiting any SRA approvals on BMC-owned or utility-reserved land without lawful consent and an audit of all transit camp approvals granted by SRA on reserved or municipal lands.
