Maharashtra: Playground reservation can be lifted only if equal land is reserved in the same city

The state Urban Development Department has issued a Government Resolution (GR) under which a municipal corporation or council must first reserve land of the same area elsewhere for a playground if it wants to remove the reservation from land set aside for one. Only after that can state cabinet approval be sought.

Under the earlier rules, only the approval of the state cabinet was needed to cancel a playground reservation. The new order adds the condition that a playground for the same area be provided at another location.

The government has taken a tough line on encroachment of grounds. An encroachment will not be regularised, whatever the year in which it took place. The GR also says that a playground reservation will not be changed under any circumstances.

However, if the planning authority feels that cancelling a playground reservation in the Development Plan is necessary, it must reserve an equal area of land for a playground at another location in the same city. Cabinet approval will then have to be obtained.

According to a senior Urban Development Department official, the decision was taken so that the area reserved for grounds does not shrink. The official said grounds are very important for young people and that the decision is significant given the needs of the new generation.

Maharashtra currently has 29 municipal corporations, 232 municipal councils and 125 municipal panchayats. The rule on ground reservations will apply within the jurisdiction of all these local self-government bodies.

D. Stalin, an environmental activist with the NGO Vanashakti, has criticised the policy. He said the idea of offering space in another suburb in exchange for a ground in one area is wrong. He said open spaces in every area are essential for the residents of that area.

Stalin alleged that the construction industry has its eye on open land and that the government is deceiving citizens. He said cities are deteriorating because of a rush to commercialise land.

He also said the decision will not stand the test of law. Citizens should stand firm on their right to a better life in their own neighbourhoods, he said. Stalin said the right of children to play is not something that can be traded.

In 2025, the state government had directed municipal corporations and councils not to cancel reservations for burial grounds in Development Plans under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. Changing or cancelling such reservations required cabinet approval. The government had brought in that rule when several residential colonies took the stand that they did not want a burial ground in their area.