MUMBAI, May 2: The state government is using a rule under the slum redevelopment (SRD) scheme - to rehabilitate slum-dwellers on the same spot as they were residing on January 1, 1995 - to their advantage.

The government is determined to rehabilitate slum-dwellers on the plot belonging to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) (though the corporation had informed the government of it's reserved status) at Shastri Nagar in Bandra West. On the other hand, the slum-dwellers at Cuffe Parade might not be so lucky as the government has decided to vacate the plot to allow industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani to construct a helipad.

Housing minister Chandrakant Khaire recently announced that the government would not give in to the BMC's demand. The plot was reserved by the BMC to shift their head office which is now located at Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus. However, gradually the plot was encroached upon and now under the SRD scheme, about 200 families residing on the plot are entitled for the free housing scheme. BMC requested the state to shift the families to some other plot, but Khaire maintained that under the rules of the scheme, it is the duty of the government to rehabilitate them on the same plot.

Interestingly the fine text of the same rules holds that if the slum-dwellers are rehabilitated on the plot, the builder will get additional FSI to construct flats for sale in the open market. Khaire's feels that the BMC should have protected the land from encroachment from the last 15 years is if it is serious about shifting it's office. He suggests that if the corporation takes up the responsibility of constructing homes for the people, it will be able to use the extra FSI. The housing minister thinks the plot is big enough to accommodate the slum-dwellers as well as the new office of the BMC. However, a different set of rules seem to apply for the plot at Cuffe Parade. The state is not willing to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers because it seems to want to please the Ambanis. Khaire argued that the plot was reserved for a helipad about 20 years ago and hence the slum-dwellers will have to be accommodated somewhere else. However, he failed to explain how the rules can be bent to achieve this.

A secretary of the department said that the government would oppose the project of rehabilitation on the spot by stating that the slum was within the Coastal Regulatory Zone. The fisher mongers of the locality under the leadership of Bhai Bandarkar had refused to vacate the plot as their profession requires closeness to the sea.

A secretary of the department revealed that the government does not have any alternate plot to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers of Cuffe Parade at the moment. He said that the government might shift them to some other locality. He added that many new people have encroached on the plot and as the government does not have any schemes for residents who came after 1995, it will be difficult for the government to vacate them. He added that the government had not initiated any action against any ward officer though encroachment had taken place in every ward. He said, ``Demolishing huts is not a long-term solution unless exodus of people is restricted.'' He added that the government was not adhering strictly to the rules laid under the scheme and enforced it when it was convenient for them.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.