Civic body opposes PIL challenging 'vision of Navi Mumbai'plan

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) today opposed a PIL challenging the'One Time Planning' vision which seeks to make the satellite city of Navi Mumbai ultra-modern with high-tech infrastructure at a cost of Rs 12,821 crore in the next two decades.
The PIL, filed in the Bombay High court, alleged this plan was announced recently at the instance of Guardian Minister of Thane district, Ganesh Naik, only to get political mileage. It also urged the court to set aside such plan.
NMMC today filed an affidavit before a bench headed by Justice P V Hardas countering the claim made by the PIL that the scheme cannot be approved by the Municipal Corporation unless it gets sanction from the government.

The civic body said it was not necessary for it to take the approval of the government to pass the budget in the House for this multi-crore rupee scheme envisaged for the overall development of Navi Mumbai.
NMMC further said 'One time Planning' Vision was a plan which was yet to be implemented and added a plan cannot be challenged in a court of law. A plan or a scheme may or may not be executed. Until it is implemented, the plan cannot be challenged, the affidavit of the civic body said.
The plan includes construction of roads, footpaths, utility ducts, social, educational and health infrastructure projects, according to the PIL filed by Vinod Gangwal.

The court has allowed the counsel for NMMC Sandeep Marane to submit a reply to a rejoinder filed by the petitioner. The matter has been posted for hearing after the Diwali vacation.
The civic body justified the "One Time Planning' vision saying CIDCO had planned the city of Navi Mumbai in 1970. Now after 40 years, it had become necessary to reshape the city with new infrastructure in order to take care of the present day needs, NMMC said.
The petitioner also filed a rejoinder alleging the 'One Time Planning' vision was mired in corruption and was being introduced to mislead the people.