Central departments told to rehabilitate slums on government land in Mumbai

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday directed various Union Government departments to expedite rehabilitation of slums on their lands in Mumbai.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday raised the issue of slums on lands owned by various Union Government departments like Railways, Customs and Defence. The 23rd meeting of the Western Zonal Council was held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat on Thursday, which was chaired by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, along with various ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Administrator of the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and senior officers from Central and State Governments.

The Council reviewed the progress of the implementation of the recommendations made at the last meeting relating to surplus lands of various Organisations of Central Government to be made available for achieving objectives of 'Housing for All: 2022' and issues relating to Aadhaar.

There are 11 central government departments, having total area of 517 acres in Mumbai on which slums have been built. Currently, there are issues with redevelopment of these slums as it requires the nod from respective Union Government departments.