Demand for one parking per household in NM Joshi Marg BDD project raised in Maharashtra legislative council

Mumbai: The demand for providing one parking space per household in the NM Joshi Marg BDD Chawl redevelopment project echoed in the Maharashtra legislative council on Tuesday, with MLC Sunil Shinde urging the state government to extend to NM Joshi Marg residents the same benefits as were being provided under the Worli BDD redevelopment project.Raising the issue through a calling attention motion, Shinde said residents had been assured parity with Worli and sought justice for thousands of families being rehabilitated under the project. “After extending the one-to-one parking benefit to Worli residents, a similar assurance was given to NM Joshi Marg residents. The government should honour that commitment,” he said.Replying on behalf of the housing department, minister of state (housing) Pankaj Bhoyar said the NM Joshi Marg redevelopment covers 32 BDD chawl buildings, consisting of 2,560 residential and non-residential tenements, and is being implemented in phases.

Bhoyar said existing redevelopment norms provide one parking space for every four households, but based on recommendations of a committee and representations from local residents and public representatives, the government has already improved the provision to one parking space for every two households at NM Joshi Marg and Naigaon.He explained that unlike Worli, where parking facilities have been created, NM Joshi Marg and Naigaon projects face space constraints.

However, he assured the house that the government would reconsider the demand for one-to-one parking after holding discussions with public representatives.MLCs Anil Parab, Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad supported the demand, arguing that parking has become a basic urban necessity and should be factored into major redevelopment projects across Mumbai.Bhoyar said all suggestions received from legislators would be examined, and a meeting will be convened with the MLCs, to reconsider the demands and take a final decision.