With an aim to make Mumbai happy, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in its budget 2020-21 on Tuesday, came up with Vision 2030 – civic chief Praveen Pardeshi’s road map to better the city’s ‘happiness index’ through efficient civic services.

Although there is no indicator of the city’s current happiness index, the budget plans to achieve part of its Vision 2030 goals through effective implementation of Mumbai’s Development Plan 2034. Analysts, however, have criticised the plan.

HT was the first to report on the BMC’s Vision 2030 in December 2019. The budget outlines seven indicators to be achieved by 2030 – world-class roads and robust public transport; pure and reliable drinking water; environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient city; good primary education; preventive and primary health care; business development and employment opportunities; and public participation in an inclusive governance model. In his budget speech, Pardeshi said: “All these will lead to healthier, better educated and happier citizens who are able to deliver efficiency in their professions and livelihoods. Likewise, the city will be climate and disaster resilient.”

Vision 2030 looks at making Mumbai flood-proof and disaster-resilient, treating 100% sewage, reusing 50% of its treated water, reducing waste collection, ensuring 100% vaccination coverage for children, and reducing communicable diseases such as malaria, dengue, and leptospirosis. It hopes to increase areas under roads from less than 10% to over 20%, and improve average speed of commute to 40 kilometre per hour (kmph) from 20 kmph. It also envisions increasing share of passengers in public transport to 25% from 15%. It also aims to decrease CO2 emissions, with increase in number of trees and urban forests.

After the budget was presented to the standing committee, Pardeshi said, “The coastal road, missing links, Goregaon-Mulund link road and widening of existing DP roads will improve road cover, and, in turn, reduce congestion.”

Rohit Shinkre, academician from Rachana Sansad school of Architecture, said, “The concept of basing urban planning on happiness index is not new. Moreover, the DP is always meant to plan the city’s development for the next 10 or 20 years. As the vision has quantified achievements for roads and sewage, it should have done so for air quality, tree cover and given citizens a tangible commitment on what will increase or improve in these sectors.”

Pardeshi said, “There is no new land which the BMC can acquire to augment civic services. We hope to increase the road cover, for example, by development of our reservations. The land under reservation will be speedily acquired by focusing on giving transferred development rights.” The budget has declared the BMC was able to acquire 84% more land in 2019, in comparison to 2018, in lieu for rehabilitating its PAPs to increase roads, nullahs and other civic amenities. The budget also announced the BMC will create 12,000 PAP accommodations.

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Source: www.hindustantimes.com

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