MMRDA, a Move towards Civic Amenities: Dichotomy of Development and Social Justice

The development of Mumbai is the mandate for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development (MMRDA), but the mantra is to develop this vibrant city without losing its human face and emotion. MMRDA has been implementing various ambitious projects including Metro and Mono Rail projects, Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project, Mumbai Urban Transport Project, Mithi River Development and protection Project etc. Thousands of families were affected by these projects and needed to be resettled and rehabilitated. In fact, the Authority has, till today, resettled about 40,000 such families in 36 colonies at various places in the city. With a view to transforming Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, into a global level financial centre, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has been working relentlessly on several infrastructure projects.

The background of the research paper revolves round the integration of leadership skills and tactics adopted to bring in developmental projects targeting the bigger audience in the Mega city, the management skills applied to implement the project and the human resource roped in to streamline and finish the proposed projects in time precisely for benefit of the society. The aim of the research paper is to identify the perspective plans of MMRDA and examine the initiatives undertaken by MMRDA to complete in the projects in the city of Mumbai.The methodology adopted to study the perspective plans of MMRDA and also to study the obstacles in completion of the projects - primarily related to geographical location, environmental issues, displacement of inmates residing in the places of projects planned by the MMRDA, government policies, rising inflation increasing the prices of construction related raw materials, political interference, bureaucracy involvement etc through the case study is drawn from the primary and secondary data available through interviewing the office bearers of the projects under MMRDA, the workers and the resident people displaced due to MMRDA projects. Telephonic interview with MMRDA Commissioner Shri Ratnakar Gaikwad in August 2010.