State moves SC to extend slum regularisation cut-off date

MUMBAI: Having done little to spruce up Mumbai’s infrastructure, Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh now plans to accommodate more slums in the city. The state government has approached the Supreme Court asking for a review of the Bombay High Court decision that disallowed regularisation of slums built till 2000, Mr Deshmukh informed the state legislative council on Thursday. The HC has set a deadline of January 1995 for regularising illegal slums in Mumbai.

Answering a question on regularisation of slums by BJP member Madhukar Chavan, Mr Deshmukh said: “We had said in our manifesto that we would regularise slums built till 2000, but the High Court has disallowed it. Now we have approached the Supreme Court asking for a review of the decision.” The Congress manifesto had promised to extend the cut-off year for regularisation of slums in Mumbai from January 1995 to 2000.

The Bombay High Court’s directive to the state to stick to the January 1995 cut-off date has put the Deshmukh government in a fix. The High Court, while dismissing a PIL challenging the state’s decision to allow transfer of development rights to suburban areas from mainland, told the state government to adhere to the January 1995 deadline for legalising slums across the city.

The HC directive had come in the wake of the state’s housing policy, which promised to extend the deadline to January 2000. Now, in the light of the High Court directive, the Congress-NCP government is toying with the idea of tabling a Bill in the Assembly to arm itself with an Act to legalise slums.

When asked why the government had not conducted any survey on how many slums had come up in the city since 1995, the chief minister took shelter under the court. “Since the matter is sub judice, it is not possible to conduct a survey. We will do so as soon as the Supreme Court verdict comes out,” he argued.

On the issue of encroachment in the city, he said: “As it is, there is very little government land left in Mumbai. Most of it belongs to the BMC, therefore, it is the civic body that has to carry out demolition. Even then, there should be an all-party consensus on the issue, devoid of any political motives, if we are to solve the matter.”

In the past, the Congress’ 2004 Assembly poll promise had triggered a bitter confrontation between the party and the Deshmukh government. While the party ferociously justified the promise to protect its vote bank, the government resolutely went ahead with a demolition drive against post-1995 slums.

The drive displaced close to five lakh people, razed over 90,000 shanties, and cleared some 300 acres of land of illegal slums. But the drive came to an end after the Congress high-command’s intervention.