HC frowns on Western Railway for displacing society occupying its land without rehab

The bench while rapping the Western Railways said, “We bear in mind that merely labelling these persons as encroachers is not going to answer the problem. This is a serious problem in the city and it is a problem of human displacement

Mumbai: While reiterating the observation of the Supreme Court (SC) that the Western Railway (WR) was also responsible for rehabilitation of persons occupying its property, the Bombay high court on Monday sought to know from the Railways, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) whether there was any rehabilitation policy in place and the eligibility criteria in such a policy.

Referring to the SC, the bench noted that the WR and local government which could include the BMC and MMRDA had not complied with the directions of the apex court order which required the authorities to record the identity of occupants for considering their eligibility for suitable residential accommodation after eviction. (HT)

The division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale which was hearing a petition filed by Ekta Welfare Society against Western Railway was informed that the railway not only failed to comply with the December 2021 order of the apex court but had issued eviction notices and also demolished 101 structures without rehabilitating the affected persons who had allegedly encroached upon railway land.

The bench while rapping the Western Railways said, “We bear in mind that merely labelling these persons as encroachers is not going to answer the problem. This is a serious problem in the city and it is a problem of human displacement. Sometimes, the scale of the displacement is beyond the imagination. It has to be addressed in a more considered fashion than by merely deploying bulldozers on the site.”

The bench also took note of the February 7, 2023 joint demolition report of the WR which stated that 101 structures were demolished and only the debris was dumped in a low-lying area, personal belongings of the occupants remained untouched. “The disposal of this material raises more questions than it answers, because by throwing this material into a low-lying area, apparently the presumption is that it will get washed into the Arabian Sea. We most emphatically do not approve of this approach,” remarked the bench in its order.

Referring to the SC, the bench noted that the WR and local government which could include the BMC and MMRDA had not complied with the directions of the apex court order which required the authorities to record the identity of occupants for considering their eligibility for suitable residential accommodation after eviction.

The bench noted that though the SC was assured that affected persons would be rehabilitated under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme, none of that seemed to have been done and that the notices did not point out any rehabilitation scheme.

Referring to the joint demolition report of WR, the bench noted that it did not indicate whether any survey had been done to ascertain the eligibility of the affected people and hence did not comply with the SC order in letter or spirit.

Directing the three authorities to inform it about the rehabilitation policy, the bench restrained further demolition till March 1 as it was in contravention of the SC order.