Dev Plan proposes fund to maintain city’s heritage buildings – Mumbai Mirror – 25 Feb 2015

DEV PLAN PROPOSES FUND TO MAINTAIN CITY’S HERITAGE BUILDINGS

Mumbai Mirror | Feb 25, 2015, 12.00 AM IST

Mumbai Mirror Bureau
The onus of conservation will no longer be on tenants in the new plan, but activists are unconvinced that the plan will work.

The new Development Plan 2014-2034 seeks to create a fund to provide monetary support for the upkeep of private heritage buildings in the city. This monetary pool will be at the disposal of the municipal commissioner, who will be required to consult with the city Heritage Conservation Committee before allocating the funds to conservation projects.

According to the Special Development Control Regulations 2034 in the plan, the money for this kitty will be drawn from the district planning and development council budget.

As things stand, the upkeep of non-cessed buildings – where occupants do not contribute to a repair fund – categorised as heritage structures is the responsibility of its occupants. If the structure is categorised as acessed building, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority or the tenants see to its upkeep.

Heritage conservation activists aren’t entirely convinced the plan will work. “There is no clarity on the repair fund: What will the quantum be and how will it be disbursed? We have been demanding for a long time that financial incentives be provided to owners of heritage structures so that they have some benefit of continuing in the heritage structure instead of going for redevelopment,” said urban planner Pankaj Joshi.

The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee had in 2013 written to the state government’s urban development department, making it clear that unless an incentive-based policy was brought in, it would be an onerous task to save Mumbai’s architectural heirlooms.

The MHCC had suggested that the state government fashion a new policy that includes provisions for repairs and maintenance as owners of heritage buildings find it difficult to see to the upkeep of these buildings. The committee, in its proposal to the government, said the preservation of heritage was the collective responsibility of the city. “It is strongly felt that heritage conservation is not getting due consideration from the owners of heritage properties because of the reliance on a regulatory mechanism rather than incentives,” the MHCC had contended.