Map all city slums using GPS: HC to state govt, BMC

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) has directed the state and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to come up with a way to tackle the problem of encroachments across the city.

Stating that the need of the hour was to use scientific means, the HC suggested that the state and BMC should have all the slums in the city Gpsmapped, so that in case of any encroachment, action can be taken immediately. The HC also suggested that the task of Gpsmapping and monitoring should be handed over to a different authority other than the BMC.

The state and BMC were also asked to come up with a plan along these lines before the next hearing, and posted the matter for October 3.

A division bench of acting chief justice Naresh Patil and justice Girish Kukarni was hearing a writ petition filed by Pioneer India Developers Pvt Ltd praying for directions to the police and BMC to clear encroachments in the Daulat Nagar area which were proving detrimental to their project under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Advocate Suhail Shariff appearing for the petitioners told HC though they had given an undertaking to the court on December 20, 2011, in a contempt petition to complete the project within a year, they had been unable to comply with it owing to the encroachments.

Shariff submitted that in light of numerous complaints to the police and the BMC, partial removal of encroachments was carried out. However, the encroachers returned, as a result of which, they were unable to complete the SRA project. Hence, they sought directions to the authorities to not only remove the encroachments, but also to ensure that no further encroachments take place.

The bench said the problem of illegal encroachments was repetitive and the authorities needed to come up with a permanent solution. The bench said it is faced with the issue of encroachment quite often.

The bench held that the state and BMC should sit together and resolve the issue at their own levels.