For the first time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced an intensive three month drive against unauthorised housing structures in the slums of Mumbai. The civic authorities on September 19 (Saturday) said that the drive will begin from October 1, onwards and any unauthorised structure that is 14 feet or taller will be demolished.

The BMC’s announcement comes after eight persons lost their lives following a landslide reported in August this year at Mumbai’s Kurla crushed housing settlements located at the edge of a hill. A month earlier six children lost their lives after a house collapsed in Mumbai’s Mankhurd area following heavy rainfall. In both these cases the residents were living in illegal structures.

“The drive will start from October 1 and will continue till December 31. We (BMC) have now appealed to residents living in such structures to voluntarily remove the unauthorised portions before the drive begins. We have also warned them that failure to do so will invite demolition action,” a civic official told .

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

A day after the Kurla landslide incident, the how the BMC was urged by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to stop all kinds of housing construction activities that were taking place at the slope of the hill. In its report, the GSI had also given a word by word prediction of how the landslide may take place. In another report published on August 24, Express had reported how despite warnings there was no land use policy of the eviction plan in place for Mumbai.

According to BMC data, Mumbai has 2.23 lakh slum structures, of which 39,111 are either 14 feet or taller. The civic body’s rule states that any informal housing structure that is taller than 14 feet is to be classified illegally automatically. Of these, 39,000 structures, 31,227 are located in the eastern suburbs while 4,536 structures are located in the western suburbs. The remaining 3,348 structures are in the island city.

Most of these housing settlements are located on land owned by the state government or union ministry.

Speaking to the Express, officials maintained that notices have been served to 611 such structures in the first phase.

Story continues below this ad

“Most of the people residing in these housing units are encroaching the land illegally. Earlier this week, there was a meeting where officials of BMC, state government and collector’s department were present. We have decided to take coordinated action going forward to prevent any further loss of lives in such kinds of incidents,” an official said.

The sources in Mumbai’s Collector’s office are expected to begin the eviction process immediately after the monsoon.

“There is a court order that prevents eviction drives during the monsoon. There is also a set of SOPs that need to be followed in the process of encroachment removal. As a first step, we are issuing them notices asking them to leave the premises voluntarily. If they fail to do so, the administration will carry out a drive following the government’s prescribed rules,” the official said.