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Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
BMC's climate budget: old wine in a new bottle?
Mumbai: Jumping on the World Environment Day bandwagon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday put their money where their mouth is, announcing a ₹17,000-crore 'climate budget' for the city. The civic body claimed that 37% of its capital expenditure budget will go towards 'climate-allied' activities. These include a wide range of things, from the biomining of the Deonar dumping ground to electric buses for BEST and solar panels, along with the construction of toilets, water infrastructure, markets, homes for project-affected people (PAP), and new fire brigade stations, among others. The BMC has increased its climate budget from last year's ₹10,224.24 crore by including the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) and seven more departments within it. Most of the activities listed in the budget are old BMC plans due to their effect on climate change. In March 2024, the BMC also created a new environment and climate change department. Claiming that its actions are working, the BMC also released data for greenhouse gas emissions till 2022-23, which showed a decrease from 2019-20 figures, but an increase from the Covid years in between. The BMC's climate spending takes its Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP), launched in 2022, as its benchmark. The plan is a strategic framework to make Mumbai climate-resilient and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. However, the ambit of the climate budget is wide. On the one hand, it concentrates on mitigating climate change, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, it also focuses on increasing the resilience of the city's population to the effects of climate change, i.e. adaptation. This gives the BMC a wide remit of activities to include under its climate spends. For instance, under unquantifiable actions taken, some of the activities listed include building toilets and installing sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators in public toilets; laying water pipelines, constructing storage tanks, a new water treatment plant and a desalination plant to improve water supply; stabilisation of hill slopes to reduce disaster risk; concessions for BEST bus tickets to those with disabilities; laying sewer lines; new healthcare facilities; improvement of footpaths, construction and maintenance of foot-over-bridges; a transportation and commercial hub at Dahisar Check Naka, municipal markets, PAP homes for the Goregaon Mulund Link Road project; and even a swimming pool and sports complex. Environmentalists, who are not new to challenging the BMC, were sceptical of the lofty budget. 'How to destroy the climate for 364 days, and how to plan for correcting the destruction for one day: that is the crux of the BMC's climate action plan,' said Zoru Bhathena, an environmental activist. 'The budget doesn't mention anything new that the civic body shouldn't already be doing,' said Debi Goenka, executive trustee of the nonprofit Conservation Action Trust. 'Setting up LED lights was introduced 10 years ago. Why is it newly added in the budget? BEST has already placed orders for EV buses that have not been delivered yet, so it is the same thing repeating. Many measures that could be taken up are severely lacking, including simple things like adding solar panels at bus depots. All this while the BMC is continuing to cut trees rampantly.' Sumaira Abdulali, founder of the NGO Awaaz Foundation, concurred. 'The number of trees being cut for infrastructure projects will not be covered in the greening of islands that they have taken up,' she said. 'As per the climate budget report, the PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels have come down to about 85 on average. Averaging out the winter numbers with the whole year will definitely bring it down. That doesn't mean the pollution is less. Regulation of the construction sites doesn't need a different budget. There just has to be proper enforcement of the AQI norms,' she added.
Hindustan Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Prestige Estates partners with Valor Group to develop an office complex project worth ₹4,500 crore in Mumbai's Andheri
Bengaluru's listed real estate developer, Prestige Estates Projects Ltd, has partnered with Mumbai-based Valor Group (formerly known as DB Realty) to develop an office complex worth ₹4,500 crore in Mumbai's Andheri area. According to a regulatory filing, the project's estimated Gross Development Value (GDV) is approximately ₹4,500 crore, with Valor and Prestige each holding a 50% economic stake. The joint development agreement was signed on May 28 for land measuring 21,978.22 square metres in Andheri East, Mumbai. As per the filing, ₹504 crore will be infused into a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will be set up to execute the project. Also Read: Maharashtra Housing Policy 2025 offers major benefits for senior living buyers; Stamp duty reduced to flat ₹1,000 Prestige Estates announced on May 28 that it has successfully completed the first three landmarks in Mumbai, including Siesta at The Prestige City, Mulund, Prestige Jasdan Classic, and Prestige Turf Tower in Mahalaxmi. The company said these developments collectively span 2.8 million sq ft and mark the Group's significant debut delivery in the city since its Mumbai launch in 2022. Also Read: Mumbai's landmark ₹639 cr property deal: Why are pharma tycoons investing in luxury flats in the financial capital? According to the company, it will be handing over possession of nearly 700 residences and 130 office units in the coming months. Prestige Estates has a 38-year legacy and has delivered over 300 projects in the residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use segments. The company also recently announced its entry into the Delhi NCR real estate market. Also Read: Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates aims to 'rewrite the way real estate is done' in NCR On May 6, Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director of Prestige Estates, said that the company aims to 'rewrite the way real estate is done in the region,' with an emphasis on quality and timely delivery, key concerns that have historically plagued the Delhi-NCR property market.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Tribal hamlet challenges eviction notice issued by IIT-Bombay
MUMBAI: The gram sabha of Bhangsila Adivasi Gaon served a legal notice on Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) last month in response to an eviction notice served on them in January. The IITB notice, referring to a Bombay high court order of Jan 2, 2025, states the tribals are in unauthorised and illegal occupation of land (Survey No. 22 and CTS No. 67) and asserted the land is owned by IIT-B. It warned the tribals of forcible eviction as per law for failure to vacate. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Bhangsila pada, comprising 90 tribal homes, is part of Aarey Colony and abuts Vihar Lake. The tribal hamlet is across the road from the rear side of the IIT-B campus, with BMC's water pipelines on either side of the road. To access the hamlet, one has to duck under the pipeline. Meena Raote, sarpanch of Bhangsila Gaon, said they are the sixth generation residing on the land. They have documents, including school leaving certificates of ancestors who studied in the local BMC schools, and their ID cards as many worked in BMC. Around 33 of them received certificates certifying their Adivasi status, while another 45 are now being asked by the Mulund tehsildar to produce more documents as proof of being tribals. Kisan Kolekar said they are being asked to go to Mira Road, where they are being provided SRA flats. "This is our home. Why should we move elsewhere? We are not slum dwellers. Why should we be treated as encroachers?" he asked. Rajashree Parab said their toilets have been demolished, and they are forced to answer nature's call in the open and at night. "There are leopards in the area, and we face a daily threat to life." In 2011, IITB was given this land by MMRDA in lieu of land surrendered for the widening of JVLR. In their legal notice, the sabha said they have been subjected to repeated eviction notices since 2011 despite being in continuous possession of the land since the British era. The tribals claim to have made multiple representations to various govt authorities seeking redressal but to no effect. The legal notice to IIT-B states the institute's actions as "wholly untenable in law" and demands its withdrawal. An IIT-B spokesperson said, "We are acting as per court order and are offering homes for rehabilitation." The sabha's notice says the court order does not apply to them.
