He has certainly been doing that in an earnest manner. And he visionary and no-nonsense BMC chief Mr. Subodh certainly helped him achieve things.
Most builders were crossing their fingers, hoping for a more lenient BMC chief after Subodh retired on 30th April 2012.... but hurrah to the Chief Minister, who once again hand-picked a person reputed to be clean and tough – Mr Sita -ram Kunte, replacing Subodh Kumar as municipal commissioner of Mumbai
Sita- ram Kunte is a low-profile, upright, capable and far-sighted officer. Moreover, he is of Maharashtrian origin, making him acceptable to the ‘son-of-the-soil’ parties.
Kunte (51) happens to be the youngest commissioner in the municipal corporation's history.
He has handled several city-related assignments.
He was head of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and served as an additional municipal commissioner in the BMC.
Mumbaiites know the low-profile officer because of his decision as housing secretary to make deemed conveyance (title of land) easier for housing societies to obtain from builders.
Since June last year, Kunte was the planning secretary in Mantralaya.
Many Builders have been bidding their time, and not submitting their building plans, hoping that once Mr Subodh retires, they will get a more “mallable” chief and can go back to their old comfortable ways...
Mr Subodh Kumar had put in place stringent development control rules (DCR), tightening the controversial open space and market policies to curb large-scale misuse of building concessions by developers.
The amended rule allows developers 35% extra area to build residential buildings and 20% additional area for commercial projects in lieu of a hefty premium to the municipal body.
While Mr Subodh may have retired on 30th April 12, the legacy that he has created, we hope will live on.
The chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has sent out a clear message: that he remains in charge and is determined to clean up the mess in Mumbai’s municipal administration.