Congress Opposes Scrapping Majas Jogeshwari Rehabilitation Reservation, Cites BMC’s ₹20,751 Crore PAP Housing Need

Mumbai's ruling coalition has clashed over whether to scrap the Rehabilitation and Resettlement reservation at Majas in Jogeshwari East. Congress leader Ashraf Azmi opposes this move, highlighting the Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) need for Project Affected People (PAP) housing. The BMC's latest data reveals that 33,332 PAP tenements are needed for projects worth approximately Rs.

20,751.67 crore. The civic body is committed to acquiring PAP and rehabilitation housing, yet it proposes to delete 1,802.75 sq meters of land set aside for Rehabilitation and Resettlement. This discrepancy in the corporation's stance on addressing Mumbai's rehabilitation needs is alarming, Azmi contends. The Majas proposal is one of several instances of altering land reserved for public purposes in Mumbai, he adds, citing the Century Mills land, Mulund ground for a petrol pump, and Neville D’Souza Football Ground in Bandra West.

He urges Mayor Ritu Tawde and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide to reject the proposal and prevent any changes to land reserved for public use. Azmi emphasizes that once public land or reservations are surrendered, restoring them becomes nearly impossible. He also calls for the proposal to be rejected at the BMC's general body meeting, warning that approving it could set a precedent for dismantling public reservations for individual redevelopment projects.