The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government and other authorities to develop a vision on how Mumbai, an “international” city, could become a “slum-free” city and expressed concern over the hardship suffered by slum dwellers at the hands of “property developers”.
The court also stressed that in the coming generations, there cannot be only “skyscrapers” in the “concrete jungle” of the city, but there must also be a sufficient amount of “open and green spaces”. The Supreme Court also observed that land management in the city is not in the right hands.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had last week constituted a special panel to conduct a comprehensive review of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance & Redevelopment) Act, 1971, as per a Supreme Court order dated July 31.
A bench of Judge Girish Kulkarni And Somashekhar Sundaresan also highlighted the fact that “slum dwellers” were being made “victims” of private developers.
“This vision is needed to completely rid Mumbai of slums because Mumbai is considered an international city and is also the financial capital of our country. The Maharashtra Slum Areas Act will help make this vision a reality… We are really concerned about the plight of slum dwellers. Just because they are slum dwellers does not mean that they are at the discretion of the developers. They end up getting only a pittance. Slum dwellers are victims of these developers who have no intention of working. And the worst part is that the state and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) are just mute spectators in such situations.” Justice Kulkarni made his oral observations.
The judges noted that private developers are commissioned to redevelop a particular slum area, but then take “forever” after the slum dwellers are evicted and sometimes even stop paying monthly rent to the residents.
The judges added that the authorities must consider what they would leave to future generations, stressing the need for “sustainable” development.
“We cannot have a complete concrete jungle. We cannot have only skyscrapers everywhere. Think about what will happen in 100 years. What will you leave behind for the coming generations? A concrete jungle? There must be sufficient open and green spaces. We believe that land management is not in the right hands. Only an absolute and robust intention will help to survive… Development and environment must go hand in hand, so sustainable development is the need of the hour.” Judge Kulkarni underlined.
The judges said that the developers should be held accountable to ensure timely completion of the rehabilitation projects. They added that the authorities must ensure that the developers do not just construct rehabilitation buildings for slum dwellers but instead implement “robust and professional construction measures”.
“The rehabilitation must be of the highest quality and with due consideration for maintenance. It simply cannot be that the rehabilitated building becomes a slum again 10 years after it is handed over. There must be adequate maintenance and the building must not be in a bad state. There must be decent housing for the slum dwellers because they are entitled to a decent life.” the bank emphasized.
Representative of the State, Advocate General Birendra Saraf also pointed out an “important” aspect of the matter, namely the sale of rehabilitation housing intended for slum dwellers. The AG said that slum dwellers who have received rehabilitation housing usually sell it to third parties.
“It is a vicious circle, gentlemen. Such tenement houses cannot be sold, but the slum dwellers who get these flats still sell them to third parties. We are working on a possible solution to put an end to this problem. One of them that we are considering is that the sub-registrars can, if possible, ensure that no such documents (on sale of rehabilitation flats) need to be registered. We are working on some things and will file an affidavit on the same.” presented to the AG.
Senior Attorney Gayatri Singh has recorded her appearance for slum dwellers and some organizations working for slum improvement. Advocate Mayur Khandeparkar for the Maharashtra unit of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI).
The court therefore invited all “possible” parties to file affidavits in this matter.
In addition, senior lawyers were appointed Darius Khambatta And Sharan Jagtiani as Amicus Curiae in the case together with Attorney Naira Jejeebhoy.
The next hearing in this case will take place on September 20.
