Dec 30: Alarmed by the adverse impact the demolition drive could have on the Sena-BJP's prospects in the ensuing parliamentary elections, chief minister Manohar Joshi stayed the demolition of illegal and unauthorised slums in the city till the end of the mid-term polls.``The cabinet discussed at length the law and order situation resulting from the demolition drive, and it was decided to suspend demolitions with immediate effect. However, the stay is not applicable to any orders which might have been given by the High Court or any other judicial or quasi-judicial authority,'' Joshi told media persons today.
He stated that as law enforcement agencies will be deployed for elections, they may be unavailable for the demolition drive, which was launched on October 1 this year against all illegal constructions, including slums which were built after the cut-off date of January 1, 1995. ``We will also bring the situation to the notice of the High Court, which has ordered the demolition of hutments in the SanjayGandhi National Park,'' he added.
Joshi admitted that given the non-availability of land, rehabilitating slumdwellers in the Borivli park was a difficult task. ``Of the 78,000 slumdwellers in the park, 32,000 will have to be rehabilitated as they qualify for the mass housing scheme, while the others will have to be demolished. Rehabilitating these families is difficult as they cannot be housed on forest land,'' he remarked. He also confirmed that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) has submitted a comprehensive report on the law and order situation resulting from the on-going demolition drive against illegal constructions.Senior ministers commented that Joshi had no alternative but to suspend the demolitions. ``Discontent is brewing among slumdwellers, particularly in areas beyond Bandra. On the one hand, we have failed to provide them free houses and on the other, we have demolished structures that are legal and authorised,'' pointed out a senior minister.
Razing continues in Thane
In one of
the last demolitions until the end of the mid-term polls, the Thane Municipal Corporation razed at least nine bars and restaurants at the Mulund Check Naka.In the operation, personally supervised by TMC Commissioner T Chandrasekhar, bars owned allegedly by both sitting and former civic corporators, including Bela Ghag, Anant Patil, Janardhan More, Bhaskar Patil, Ashok Raul, and M G Rao, were razed.
Chandrasekhar said he had received numerous complaints about the nuisance caused by these bars, which also allegedly doubled as brothels. The bar owners' plea for some respite to recover the heavy investments made for New Year's Day was over-ruled, he stated.Corporators had fiercely resisted the crackdown on their activities. One of the corporators allegedly even went to the extent of warning the commissioner that he would commit suicide if the bars were razed.
HC intervenes in Kandivli
The Bombay High Court today stayed demolitions of slums in the precincts of Sanjay Gandhi National Park till January5, 1998, following a petition by residents of Gautam Nagar, Kandivli, one of the slums that was demolished yesterday.The directive was given by the vacation judge of the High Court, J A Patil on a petition filed by the Gautam Nagar Sangh. The judge observed that the allegations made by the petitioners ``demands an enquiry'' and hence ordered that ``status quo be maintained till January 5, 1998''.The petitioners, represented by P Janardhanan, argued that no notices were issued to slumdwellers prior to the demolition, nor was alternate accommodation provided to those whose names appeared in the voters' list before January 1, 1995, as was directed in an earlier order of the Bombay High Court. Around 28 such persons who were within the cut-off date of January 1995 were dishoused in the demolitions, which saw the police lathi-charge and tear gas the slumdwellers, injuring over forty of them. Around 35,000 hutments were demolished. Now that the CM has announced `cease action' on demolitions till the mid-term polls
are over, the petitioners believe they have a victory on their hands.
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
