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In-Situ Slum Rehab Policy Being Misused To Gobble Up Land: Plea

Mumbai’s Green Spaces Under Siege: How Slum Rehab Rules Are Letting Land Sharks Steal Our Parks

Imagine paying your taxes every month to keep Mumbai’s parks, gardens, and maidans alive as our city’s breathing spaces—only for land mafia and greedy builders to hijack them through loopholes in slum rehab policies. That’s exactly what’s happening, and the Supreme Court has now stepped in to hear our side.

On Monday, a bench led by CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi agreed to probe this scam. An NGO, Alliance for Governance and Renewal (NAGAR), exposed how encroachers are being egged on to grab even tiny bits of open land, triggering “in-situ” rehab that turns our public greens into concrete jungles.

The CJI nailed it: “Slumdwellers deserve basic homes, but if one rogue encroachment locks an entire open space for rehab, it’s a massive injustice.” The court has asked Maharashtra government and BMC to respond—because protecting unencroached parks is simple, but uprooting long-term squatters on our maidans? That’s the tough fight we taxpayers need them to win.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, arguing for NAGAR, made it clear: Rehab genuine slumdwellers nearby, sure—but not by gobbling up parks meant for all Mumbaikars’ kids to play, families to picnic, and lungs to breathe. “Spare the open spaces for the common good,” he urged.

Here’s the dirty trick: Old rules (DCR 1991) required 25% encroachment before rehab kicked in. But the 2018 DCR 2034? It greenlights rehab on plots as small as 500 sqm with zero minimum encroachment. Erect one hut—bam!—the whole plot’s reserved for pukka buildings. “Slum rehab has become Mumbai’s slimiest industry,” Divan warned, inviting land grabbers to feast.

The petition slams this as rewarding crime: Encroachers get forgiven, builders snag nearly 50% of the redeveloped land for “free sale” profits, and we, the honest taxpayers, lose irreplaceable public spaces forever. No take-backs once concrete pours.

This fight traces back 24 years to a Bombay High Court petition drafted by senior advocate Madhvi Divan—now revived in the Supreme Court by her and Shyam Divan. It’s time we honest Indians demand our parks back.

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesofindia.com reported the original article on 3rd Feb 2026