Mumbai: Weeks after junior urban development minister Madhuri Misal ordered an inquiry into BMC’s Rs 600-crore tender for redevelopment of its municipal testing laboratory in Worli, the civic body has now floated a tender to auction the prime 5,166sqm plot to builders for “commercial exploitation” at a base price of Rs 455 crore. The highest bidder can construct residential or commercial towers at the site.BMC had initially planned to redevelop the laboratory as well as build a new one, along with a multistorey robotic parking tower and commercial units, on the plot that falls in a residential zone, but it cancelled the tender for it three times following allegations of undue cost escalation and irregularities. Under the auction plan, apart from the premium to be paid to BMC, the developer will have to construct and hand over 1300sqm of office space to it for its testing laboratory. It will also have to make temporary arrangements for a testing laboratory till the new office space is ready. According to the tender document, the plot will be leased out at a “nominal” rent. The lease can be extended by another 30 years. The document said BMC will process the deletion of the existing reservation on the plot ward. “The permissible FSI (floor space index) for the land will be as per Development Control and Promotion Regulations-2034… Lease rights shall be transferable with the approval of the municipal commissioner,” it said. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh, who had raised the issue of irregularities in the redevelopment tender through a starred question in the assembly last month, said the tender has a condition that only those who have redeveloped at least three BMC properties in the last 10 years can bid for it, making the process “restrictive”. “BMC cancelled the tender three times. Now, it is suddenly auctioning the plot only to favour some particular builders.” He said the auction file was approved by then BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani just days before his retirement on March 31. “Approving a project to auction such a prime BMC property just days before retiring is completely unethical and improper. If the plot was to be auctioned, then why did BMC float the tender thrice to build a parking lot there? This is a clear policy flip-flop only to gift the plot to favoured builders. This auction must be stayed immediately until the state govt inquiry is completed,” Shaikh said. Misal had said the inquiry into the redevelopment project would be conducted by the additional chief secretary of the urban development department. Acknowledging having approved the auction plan, Gagrani told TOI that the project was in tune with BMC’s policy to monetise plots for revenue generation. He said there was no irregularity, adding that the auction of the plot had been under consideration for a long time and was not a last-minute plan. Municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide did not respond to a query from TOI.
