India, June 3 -- The mandatory 70% recreational ground (RG) provision under Mumbai's Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) 2034 was intended to ensure that housing projects create accessible public open spaces. Yet, many RG plots across the city remain inaccessible, undeveloped or outside effective civic control, raising questions over whether Mumbai's promised public amenities exist more on paper than on the ground.

According to civic data, 394 RG plots across Mumbai are maintained by contractors rather than the BMC, while numerous RG plots earmarked for public use are yet to be formally handed over by developers, who often amalgamate them into their private plots. Separately, data from the BMC's Development Plan (DP) dep...