Pushback against BMC drive on slum structures taller than 14 feet

Pointing out that the 14 feet limit dates back to a 138-year-old law (the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act 1888), when the housing situation was completely different from today, the notice demands that the proposed demolition drive be cancelled

MUMBAI: The BMC’s demolition drive against slum structures higher than 14 feet, scheduled to begin from October 1, has drawn its first pushback. A legal notice was sent on Saturday to the BMC commissioner, the heads of the SRA and MMRDA, as well as the principal secretary, Housing Department, by advocate Faiyaz Alam Shaikh on behalf of the Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society. Speaking up for the affected slum dwellers, Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh said that the BMC’s move to crack down on such slum structures has put the future of around 34,000 residents at stake.

Mumbai, India - November 13, 2024: A view of the Behrampada Slums, Bandra East in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Pointing out that the 14 feet limit dates back to a 138-year-old law (the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act 1888), when the housing situation was completely different from today, the notice demands that the proposed demolition drive be cancelled. Today, three generations live in these one and two-storeyed slum structures, which are erected out of necessity, says the notice and adds that the drive goes against the state’s own policies which ensure protection and rehabilitation of slumdwellers.

According to the latest report of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), there are 9 million slum residents within the limits of the BMC, and slums occupy 24% of Mumbai’s geographical area. As per the BMC’s figures, there are 223,150 slum structures within its jurisdiction. Of these, 39,111 are 14 feet or taller.

The notice suggests an alternative approach: amend SRA and Development Control and Promotion Regulation (DCPR) rules to recognize these 14 feet structures as independent tenements, conduct a structural audit of them, give occupants a 99-year-old lease over them on payment of a fee, thus ending the slumdwellers’ lifelong insecurity.

It also points out precedents of regularising slums in Delhi and Odisha. Maharashtra too has regularised encroachments and illegal buildings, it points out.

Pointing out that courts have established the right to shelter as a fundamental right, and also laid down that rehabilitation should precede eviction, the notice asserts that “mechanical application of a 138-year-old height restriction without regard to present social reality fails this Constitutional test”.

MLA Rais Shaikh said the ruling alliance had earlier backed protection for slum structures up to 18 feet in height. “The BJP-Shiv Sena is in power both in the state and in the BMC. During the election period, the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena had taken the position that slum structures up to 18 feet in height should be regularised and that structures taller than 14 feet should receive protection. The common people of Mumbai are now asking why BMC has suddenly launched a demolition drive against slum structures taller than 14 feet from October 1. This is a betrayal of Mumbai’s residents,” said Rais Shaikh.