In a set back to Mahul residents, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday stayed the order passed by the Bombay High Court (HC) which directed the State government to deposit ₹15,000 per month as rent and an additional ₹45,000 as refundable deposit in the bank accounts of thousands of residents and other project affected persons (PAPs).
Unfit for habitation
The State government had moved SC, filing a special leave petition on May 22, against the order passed by the HC on April 3. The HC order granted relief to the residents of Mahul who have been protesting for over a year, demanding that they be relocated from the polluted industrial area. It was declared unfit for human habitation by the National Green Tribunal in 2015 and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay earlier this year.
In its order, the HC had also directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take the consent of all eligible persons and find out if they would prefer staying in Mahul or vacate their flats and take money from the government. Depending on the estimated amount, the State would release funds to the BMC to deposit the rent in the bank accounts of the residents and other PAPs. After receiving the amount, they would have to vacate their houses within one month and acquire a house on rent elsewhere.
The BMC, in compliance with a previous court order, has been demolishing unauthorised buildings, including residential and commercial structures, displacing around 7,000 families along the Tansa water pipeline that runs across nine administrative wards of the city. The government had decided to accommodate the displaced persons in Mahul village, but most of them have refused to move there, citing high air pollution levels due to oil refineries in nearby areas. Only 225 families have shifted to Mahul so far.
The bench had noted that since these persons were evicted from their land, if rehabilitation is not done in a correct spirit, it would be a denial of their rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution.
The judges observed, “As the State government has expressed inability to provide alternative tenements, the only option left is to direct the it to pay the PAPs monetary compensation to enable them to find their own accommodation.”
Residents of Mahul told The Hindu that the State government has shown old reports to SC and that they will file an application in the matter next week with the latest reports.
