HC scripts new way to use mill land

MUMBAI:In its ruling on Monday, the Bombay HC interpreted development control rule 58-- which the government quoted to say that the 'open lands' in the mills must beshared with public agencies -- to mean all land that fell vacant after thedemolition of structures.
Indoing so, it has reconfigured the way in which mill land will be used --considerably increasing the share likely to accrue to the city.
Mill owners who had so farfactored in a mere 10% of 'open space' on their plots will now have to givetwo-thirds away to BMC and MHADA if they choose to demolish the existingstructure and redevelop it.
Through the ruling, Justices SRadhakrishnan and S C Dharmadhikari accepted the Bombay Environment ActionGroup's plea that the modified rule was unconstitutional, since in changing thedefinition of open land, it deprived the city of precious green lungs.