Sena to turn heat on builders who alter names of Mumbai areas

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has objected to private developers 'renaming' areas in Mumbai, apparently to make their projects attractive to prospective customers, and directed party corporators to warn the builders in their respective wards against doing so.

Addressing a meeting of the party corporators at Shiv Sena Bhavan here, Thackeray also asked them to "blacken" the sign boards/name plates in case the developers concerned failed to toe the line, according to sources.

The Sena chief has objected to alleged change of names of places like Worli and Malabar Hills in Mumbai by some developers in their projects, the sources said.

"Several builders have changed names of some places in Mumbai. Thackeray ordered the corporators to stop that campaign by some developers. He asked them to write to the builders concerned against doing so (changing names).

"The corporators should warn them that the boards will be blackened if they changed names of areas in Mumbai," a source said.

In the last few years, advertisements by several builders have been showcasing new names for existing areas, including Kala Nagar as BKC Annex, Vadala as New Cuffe Parade, Lower Parel as Upper Worli and Andheri as Upper Juhu.

Areas like Cuffe Parade, Juhu, Bandra are counted among the tony residential addresses in the space-starved metropolis.

In line with the party's Marathi plank, Thackeray also called for making available the copy of the city's Development Plan 2034 in local language for convenience of those who made suggestions in it.

He also sought a month's time for the people to study the DP and to see whether their provisions have been incorporated in the plan.

The development plan is a blueprint of the city's land use for the next 20 years.