Nevertheless, the BMC is rolling out a red carpet for project affected persons (PAP) at its Mahul complex, as a sop to the 3,800 families who live there. In 2019, the court had ordered that 5,400 PAP families be moved out of Mahul, including the 3,800 who continue to live there. The civic administration hopes this is enough to make them stay.
MUMBAI: It’s one of the most shunned pieces of residential real estate in Mumbai, so much so that even the Bombay High Court and National Green Tribunal concluded it is unfit for human habitation.
Security will also be enhanced. The BMC will urge the police department to establish a police beat office under the RCF police station in its Mahul complex. The BMC’s master plan proposes a fresh assessment of air quality and plans to submit it to the Supreme Court, where the case is pending.
The BMC’s master plan comes seven years after the high court ruled in favour of PAPs displaced by a court-ordered eviction of 1,600 families living along the Tansa water pipeline in Kurla. The PAPs had argued that the toxic air and water posed serious health risks and, in September 2019, the court ruled in their favour. At present, 28 security guards are deployed for 48 buildings, working in two shifts.
As a result, 1,600 families of a total 5,400 were shifted to alternative PAP housing in Kurla.
