Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said that he plans to raise an objection to the Union ministry of environment and forests recent notification on construction of high-rises, during his visit to New Delhi next week.
He also intends to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when he comes to Mumbai next week.
“The notification issued by the MoEF states that construction of high-rises should not be allowed where the road width is less then 30 metres. I will be asking them to cancel the notification,” Mr Chavan said, after inaugurating LBS Flyover at Kurla. As per the notification, roads less than the prescribed limit should have buildings up to only 18 floors.
According to Mr Chavan, in Mumbai there are only two roads that are over 30 metres wide. However, experts differ and claim that there are seven such roads in Mumbai, namely Link Road, Western Express Highway, LBS Road, Eastern Express Highway, Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, Goregaon Mulund Link Road and Santa Cruz Chembur Link Road. The arterial SV Road is 27.4 metres.
In another development, railway officials met the CM on Friday, wherein the elevated railway corridor was discussed. “The railway officials did a presentation; we wanted to know what is expected of the state in this project. I will also be discussing the elevated railway corridor project in Delhi next week,” added Mr Chavan.
Speaking on the cabinet committee’s stand on the cancellation of the Worli Haji Ali Sealink contract, Mr Chavan said that he is yet to receive the file and would take a call, after looking into the recommendations.