The civic administration had tabled the earlier proposal in the standing committee a few months ago following a high court order.
All slums that came up after 2000, considered illegal and ineligible for civic amenities, will soon get legal water connections. But there's a rider. Though the connections will be legitimate, the structures themselves won't be legalised, neither will they get eligibility.
While January 1, 1995, was the cut-off date to be considered eligible for slums, the rest were considered ineligible for water connections.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with a fresh proposal after the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena took strong objection to the earlier proposal of supplying water to slums irrespective of when they came up. The parties said the move would only encourage more migrants to settle down here, further burdening the city.
The civic administration had tabled the earlier proposal in the standing committee a few months ago following a high court order.
The HC had ordered the BMC to provide water to illegal slums if it couldn't clear them away. There was lot of debate among senior civic officials, who said it would be difficult to remove such slums if they were provided with water lines. However, as per a policy decision taken by the civic administration, even if the BMC provides water supply, it retains the right to demolish illegal slums.
As per the new proposal, the BMC won't supply to shanties on the roadside and on footpaths, undeclared encroachments on private layouts, illegal slums in gaothans, and those on land where the BMC has planned infrastructure projects. The proposal will be discussed this week.
Those areas where water lines exist will get connections on priority. However, the water will be charged at Rs4.32 per 1,000 litres. Also, slums on central government land will have to seek an NOC from the departments concerned.
Bringing down illegal numbers
The BMC has demolished 70,621 unauthorised structures that have come up after 2000 in the past nine years. Most have come up repeatedly. The civic body took action against 18,039 structures in 2007, but the drive slowed down after that. Civic officials have cited lack of police protection during demolition as the reason.
Year – Number of structures razed
2007: 18,039
2008: 12,339
2009: 6,418
2010: 8,060
2011: 4,230
2012: 10,786
2013: 6,572
2014: 3,347
2015: 830
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