Bombay HC: Can’t push evicted families to Mahul, govt must pay rent, deposit

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has ruled that encroachers evicted from the Tansa water pipeline cannot be forced to move into flats in polluted Mahul, Chembur’s industrial east. The court, on Wednesday, directed the Maharashtra government to compensate each affected family by giving them a monthly rent of Rs 15,000 and a one-time payment of Rs 45,000 as deposit to acquire rental accommodation.

Rapping the state for failing to come out with an alternative plan for around 10,000 project-affected families who were eligible for rehabilitation, the court extended the deadline to free the pipeline of illegal structures till November 30.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Janhit Manch seeking the implementation of court orders to remove unauthorised structures on the pipeline as well as applications filed by project-affected persons (PAPs) opposing the move to shift them to Mahul. In 2015, the National Green Tribunal had held that there was a “threat to the health of the residents of Mahul and Ambapada due to prevailing air quality in the area”.

The high court remarked on Wednesday that in view of the drastic nature of the NGT’s report, the PAPs could not be compelled to shift to Mahul, because of whose presence demolition of illegal structures along the pipeline had come to a standstill.

Around 5,000 families who were allotted flats in buildings in Mahul can now return them. If a family avails of the option, the state will pay it Rs 1.8 lakh as advance rent for a year plus the specified refundable deposit. Thereafter, the state will continue to pay Rs 15,000 per month as rental compensation till the time air quality in Mahul is found to be livable, the court’s order details. If a family chooses compensation but doesn’t vacate its Mahul flat, it will be evicted.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice M S Sanklecha reiterated the importance of saving and protecting “the water trunk mains from terrorists and other attacks and in turn protect the lives of citizens residing in Mumbai”. The bench said that at the same time, PAPs had the fundamental right to enjoy a pollution-free environment and decline to stay in an area where pollution was life-threatening.

The judges said the state government has also failed to protect from encroachment two plots in Dindoshi and Marol that were earlier earmarked for the rehabilitation of PAPs.

Of the 160km of the Tansa supply line running through Mumbai, around 90km is above ground. In an affidavit, the BMC had admitted to over 16,000 illegal structures on it, mainly from the Balkum-Mulund stretch, and then beyond Maroshi, Andheri (East). The new court-set deadline for removing the structures and creating a 10-metre buffer zone on both flanks of the pipeline is November 30.