MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said the state government and other public bodies should implement slum rehabilitation projects on their land, as it will ensure that the projects are not inordinately delayed due to disputes between groups of slum dwellers and rival developers.
Such a move would also ensure the development remains under control of the land owner bodies, the court said.
“..it is high time that the situation as brought about in the present proceedings, namely, of inter se conflicts between the societies of slum dwellers and the developer, becomes a relic of the past,” a division bench of justices Girish Kulkarni and Dr Neela Gokhale said, ordering the chief executive officer (CEO) of the SRA to decide within six weeks on applications filed by slum dwellers challenging the appointment of Ruparel Buildcon as the developer.
This would also enable landowners to utilise the land for some other purpose by rehabilitating the affected and eligible slum dwellers elsewhere, the court noted. If the CEO or any other statutory authority sets aside the developer’s appointment, clause 1.15 of regulation 33(10) of the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) should be invoked and the slum scheme should be handed over to the state government, which owns the land.
The government must then appoint an architect and developer by following appropriate legal procedures to implement the slum redevelopment scheme, the division bench said. Considering “the nature of the horse-trading which takes place in slum rehabilitation schemes,” the CEO of SRA should invoke clause 1.15 of the DCPR 33(10) and entrust implementation of such slum schemes to the state government or the public body, which owns the land, the court said.
