As per the state’s pre-election 2014 plan to regularise all slums up to the year 2000,
the Ganpat Patil Nagar slum could be one of the beneficiaries but lies on CRZ-1 No Development land;
the government has already regularised pre-1995 slums in other areas.
■ BMC has been trying to raze the slum since 1997
■ Local residents upset with state
■ The land falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone
SUJIT MAHAMULKAR
sujit.mahamulkar@mid-day.com 28th Feb 2014
THE Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation can rest now. It [may] no longer have to
demolish the shanties at Ganpat Patil Nagar in Dahisar (West), as the state government
is planning to legalise all slums that came up before the year 2000.
The shanties came up in the year 1997 on a land deemed to be a Coastal Regulation Zone
(CRZ) and a No Development Zone (NDZ), located on New Link Road. Mid-day had
reported on BMC’s attempts to demolish the hutments since 1997 and how the dwellers
simply built the homes again (‘For 16 years, BMC has been
trying to demolish these slums’, December 14).
The state government has already legalised slums that came up before 1995 – about
150 of them being at Ganpat Patil Nagar. This cut-off year will mostly be revised to the
year 2000. According to the BMC, about 8,000 hutments in this area would benefit from
this extension.
The BMC, on an average, carried out about eight drives per year to get rid of the slums.
About 200-500 huts came under the bulldozer routinely, but the entire illegal settlement
could never be removed.
The state government’s intention has upset local residents’ associations, who called
it a proposal to capture votes.
“Firstly the government should not extend the cut-off date.
Secondly, if the government wants to get slum dwellers’ votes, they should rehabilitate
them in the interior parts of the state. This decision (to legalise the slums) will harm
the environment, because Ganpat Patil Nagar has settled on marshy land, which is under
the CRZ,” said Harishchandra Pandey, member of the NewLink Road Residents Forum.
However, the civic body says it will follow the rules. “If the state government decides
to extend the cut-off to the year 2000, we have to follow the decision,” said Santosh
Dhonde, assistant municipal commissioner of the concerned (R/North) ward.
Figure 1 Tax paying citizens lives destroyed by water theft from Main pipe by illegal slum dwellers
A mammoth amount of money spent by the state on slum development is all set to go waste, with the decision to legalise the slums up to the year 2000.
In the last six months, the state government has spent Rs 240.24 crore on basic amenities and facilities for slum dwellers.
Besides this, the BMC also spends from their own funds to create amenities in slums.
When the slums between 1995 and 2000 get legal status, by amending the Maharashtra Slum Areas
(Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971, they will automatically go into
redevelopment under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority. The developer builds a fresh structure to
house these slum residents will build amenities again, thereby rendering thestate’s expense useless.
The residents will also get homes measuring 269 sqft, according to the amended bill, if passed in
the state legislature.
According to a source in the government, about 3.75 lakh shanties came up in the city between 1995
and 2000.
— Ravikiran Deshmukh
Forum’s view:
If a person illegally destroys the environment, cuts mangroves and dumps debris on CRZ 1 land, and is rewarded instead of being punished for it, wonder what is the role of Government and the Law.
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