India, July 1 -- The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) informed the Bombay high court that the delay of two years in publishing its draft development plan (DP) was due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement came in response to a petition challenging the legality of its draft DP published in October 2024.

The petition, filed through advocate Pravin Wategaonkar, claimed that the draft DP was published beyond the two-year time limit mandated under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act and, therefore, was untenable in law. TMC has, however, sought to exclude the period from June 2021 to March 2022 from the period.

The Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) on October 11, 2024, via a notice, proposed a land to be conv...