Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap on Thursday said his party is opposed to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) proposal that it be declared as the sole planning authority for the city.

The BMC, notably, is controlled by the Shiv Sena, which shares power with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra.

In its budget presented on Wednesday, the BMC said it had proposed to the Sena-led state government that the civic body should be the single planning authorityfor the entire cityto ensure "integrated planning and development".

At present, there are multiple planning agencies for the sprawling metropolis with different jurisdictions, including the state-controlled Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Mumbai Port Trust which comes under the Union goverment.

Addressing a press conference, Jagtap said his party wanted the present system to continue.

"These authorities take decisions in their respective jurisdictions. There should be no change," the Congress leader said.

Jagtap also expressed dismay that the Congress' demand for complete waiver of property tax for houses upto 500 sq ft did not find mention in the budget.

The party also wants that houses in the 500 to 700 sq ft bracket should get 60 percent waiver from tax, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)