The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday claimed that most of the missing files from the years after 1991 have been recovered. The Development Control Rule (DCR) was amended in 1991 and it gave discretionary powers of allotment of transferable development rights (TDR) and floor space index (FSI) to the civic administration.
The BMC has recovered 1,100 out of the 1,300 missing files and civic chief Sitaram Kunte assured that the remaining missing files would be recovered very soon. As per assurance given in the state Assembly, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan held a review meeting regarding the missing files at the Sahyadri guesthouse. Mr Chavan was told that the civic staff has found 1,100 out of 1,300 files. He assured that the remaining missing files would be reconstructed or traced.
Mr Kunte said, “I have categorised the files as pre-1991 and post-1991. The files are also divided as per the decades they belong to. Around 4,000 missing files were from the 70s-80s. While 2,600 files belonged to the 90s, 1,300 files are dated post-1991.”
An official from the urban development department said that in 1991, the development control rule was changed and gave discretionary power to the BMC administration. “There was the apprehension that since the BMC administration had awarded the TDR and FSI arbitrarily and without sticking to the rules, the files went missing because of the irregularities. If the files are recovered or reconstructed, the irregularities in these files can be resolved,” the official said.
As per the BMC record, there are 1.75 lakh files related to the building construction department in 24 BMC wards. Out of these, 10,531 files are missing. The ruling and Opposition parties had blamed the state in the Assembly last month. Mr Chavan took it seriously and declared to constitute a high power committee to investigate the irregularities. The committee is yet to be formed.