Stressing the urgent need for strict and robust implementation of the Maharashtra Slum Area [Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment] Act, the Bombay High Court on Friday (August 16, 2024) said the vision should be to make Mumbai a slum-free city. The High Court raised its concerns about the plight of slum dwellers who are exploited by private developers.
A Division Bench of Justices, G. S. Kulkarni and Somasekhar Sunderesan was hearing a suo moto Public Interest Litigation [PIL] in response to directives from the Supreme Court in July that directed the HC to implement the Maharashtra Slum Area (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act.
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“We are really concerned about the plight of slum dwellers. Merely because you are a slum dweller doesn’t mean that you are left to the discretion of developers. They end up with a pittance. Slum dwellers are victims at the hands of these developers who do not intend to work and where private interests are involved. Vision is to have Mumbai, which is considered an international city and the financial capital of our country, slum-free. We need to have an absolutely slum-free city. This Act will help that vision,” the Bench said and directed the Slum Rehabilitation Authority and others to file affidavits and posted the matter on September 20 for further hearing.
The Bench said that the authorities must consider the plan for the future, “Think about the future generation. This is what will happen in 100 years. Are there going to be only skyscrapers? Don’t we need open spaces?” the court questioned.
Stressing the need to have sustainable infrastructure in place, the Bench mentioned how foreign cities like London have large spaces for people, “We need sustainable development. We cannot just have a concrete jungle with no open space.”
Raising concerns over the long-standing delays in the slum redevelopment projects, the Bench criticised and pulled up the Slum Rehabilitation Authority [SRA] and the State government calling them silent spectators who are aware of the situation and plight of slum dwellers but not doing anything about it.
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“There ought not to be a situation where a developer is appointed and then the project doesn’t go ahead. That is not the object of the Act. There must be robust and professional development. It shouldn’t happen that in 10 years, the building must be redeveloped. It becomes dilapidated with no maintenance even when flats are being handed over. It cannot become another slum. There must be decent living for all. People are entitled to decent living in a decent abode. You [State government] think Mumbai can survive without migrant workers? We can have tenements or rental housing,” the Bench said.
The apex court on July 30, 2024, had directed the Bombay High Court to form a Bench to initiate suo motu proceedings to gauge the performance audit of Maharashtra’s Slum Redevelopment Law. The upper court said, “The welfare legislation for the poor is gridlocked and more than 1,600 cases related to the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act are pending before the Bombay High Court.”
