MMR Gets Bigger With Inclusion Of 6 New Localities

The Maharashtra Legislature on June 20 gave its approval for the inclusion of six new municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The districts, including Panvel, Raigad, Vasai, Alibaug, Khalapur, Pen and Palghar. With this, over 2,000 square kilometre (sq km) of land would be added to the existing 4,355 sq km area that falls under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). However, the expansion of the MMRDA jurisdiction will not affect the powers of local gram panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

Earlier, in February, the state government had given its approval for the inclusion. 

The MMR was first notified in 1967 with an area of 3,965 sq km while the MMRDA was set up in 1974 as the administrative body for planning and coordination of development work in the region. Now, the MMR consists of eight municipal corporations (Greater Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi- Nizamapur, Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayandar) and nine municipal councils (Ambarnath, Kulgaon-Badlapur, Matheran, Karjat, Panvel, Khopoli, Pen, Uran, and Alibaug), along with more than 1,000 villages in Thane and Raigad districts.

The move is aimed at providing a holistic development and planning of these satellite towns. As the rising population in and around Mumbai is saturating the available resources, many people are now moving to these satellite towns for easier access to resources such as housing. With this move, the MMRDA will be able to execute development plans in these localities now.

According to an MMRDA official, there are a number of infrastructure projects that are being executed in these satellite towns that called for an expansion of the area under the MMRDA. These projects include the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi highway, Mumbai-Surat expressway, Navi Mumbai international airport, Palghar district commercial centre, Mumbai-Porbandar project, the Virar-Alibaug multimodal corridor, and various Metro rail projects, among others.

The expansion of the MMR also means that the real estate in the newly added areas would witness a growth. The developers would be more willing to invest in projects here. For homebuyers, more options would be available at prices way less than what they would have paid in Mumbai or Navi Mumbai.

Source: PropTiger.com