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WHAT THE MAHARASHTRA CM AND CABINET SAYS ON SLUM DEMOLITIONS
January 20, 2005 Times of India..The then Vilasrao Deshmukh government, in an affidavit filed in reply to a PIL, had said that it would not extend the cutoff date of January 1, 1995 and would remove all encroachers expeditiously.
January 25, 2005 Mumbai Newsline:
CM admits some shanties before 1995 demolished "accidentally". These will be rehabilitated. "We do want to make a world class city but not by trampling on the poor people""Rs. 400 crore to rehouse 3.5 lakh slum dwellers free in 50,000 flats."
February 03, 2005 (Csmonitor.com) :
CM admits that some of the slums have been razed by mistake, since those residing in Bombay since 1995 or before are protected from demolition. Yet he vowed to continue the campaign.February 10, 2005 Mumbai Newsline:
"we took a firm stand on not allowing post 1995 slum dwellers to stay here. Now questions are being raised about the displaced families. We are examining the possibilities of allotting some plots to resettle them" - CMCM states that 1995 cutoff for slum demolitions would not change. "The decision was taken in 2002 after consulting all political parties" . CM also states that the government had submitted an affidavit in the high court that there would be no extension to the deadline.
February 11, 2005 (Mid-day) :
In an exclusive talk with Mid Day, Deshmukh declared that over the next two months, over 58,000 houses will be provided to people affected by government projects.However, the CM did not specify if this plan was meant for those displaced in the recent slum demolition drive, or even if these slumdwellers would be at least a part of the rehabilitated lot. He only used the term 'project-affected'.
"We have a concrete and viable plan ready for Mumbai. My government is committed to making the city liveable.
We can't allow any more slums to come up. After the slum demolition drive, we're being called anti-poor, but that is not true.
Over 58,000 houses are ready in Mankhurd and five other places for slumdwellers affected by government projects.
In a couple of months, we will shift 1,000 families to a township near Mankhurd," he said.
"I am bound by the law that protects hutments built before January 1, 1995.
"But any slum built after that will be cleared. I, too, have sympathy for those who lost their shelters, but there is little we can do," he said.…"There is simply no space left in Mumbai. I agree we need to sympathise with slumdwellers and need to look at them from a humanitarian angle. But we need to put a full stop somewhere.
February 17, 2005 (Rediff.com)
Those slums on public land will be demolished...it's a high court directive," he (CM) said after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the issueFebruary 18, 2005 (Indian Express):
"In keeping with her (Sonia Gandhi's) direction that the commitments made in the manifesto of the party and the common minimum programme of the UPA government must be kept in mind, the government of Maharashtra will work out a programme of action for those affected and are covered under our manifesto commitments"
February 18, 2005 (Express Newsline)
In remarks that he was pulling back, Deshmukh told reporters after meeting Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence here: "The drive will be on to demolish the slums built since 2000."February 18: The Telegraph:
"She is our leader and whatever she says is our final decision" said the CM after his meeting with Sonia GandhiFebruary 19, 2005 (Indian Express - Interview with Deshmukh)
"We have full information on Mumbai's illegal shanties. Some time in June 2000, my government had surveyed slums, since there was a proposal to issue photo-IDs. We had received a total of 13.20 lakh applications. It look like we will have to rehabilitate 7 to 8 lakh huts." -- CM
We will require at least 2,000 hectares of land (size of 28 Nariman Points) for the rehabilitation of 8 lakh families. That will cost Rs 24,700 crore: Rs 700 crore for land, Rs 20,000 crore for houses and Rs 400 crore for developing infrastructure. But let me make it clear. Nothing will be free and rehabilitation in Mumbai is impossible. They will have to move out. -- CM
Our policy was last-come-first-go. The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) began demolishing slums built in 2004, then 2003, and so on. So far, 91,000 hutments have been demolished. Of these, less than 6,000 were constructed between 1995 and 2000. - CM
February 22, 2005 (www.indiainfo.com):
Notwithstanding opposition from a section of his own party Congress, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh last night (Feb 21, 2005) vowed to continue with slum demolition saying it would be "enormous" and said Rs 25,000 crore was required if all slum-dwellers were to be rehabilitated."If you want to rehabilitate all the seven lakh slum dwellers, the total amount needed is Rs 25,000 crore," Deshmukh said.
He added however that, right now the State Government's priority was to rehabilitate 5,000 to 8,000 slum dwellers who were evicted in recent demolition drive.
He said the demolition drive would continue against slums, which have come from the year 2000 and to stop construction of fresh slums. The drive will "probably be enormous."
February 23, 2005 (Loksatta)
"Evicted encroachers will not be allowed to re-settle" (Marathi)March 02, 2005 (Indian Express):
We never promised to protect post 1995 hutments, says CM. "There was a commitment to protect pre -1995 slums in the manifesto but we've nowhere promised to do the same for post 1995 hutments. We've just said that they will be dealt with a humanitarian ground".
April 02, 2005 (Times of India)
"Mumbai no longer has any room for guests," Maharashtra's Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said in the state legislative assembly on Friday… Deshmukh, who was recently forced to suspend his drive to demolish post-1995 slums at the intervention of the party high command, said, "We had to do so because of certain political compulsions.
"We were committed to our election pledge. But we can't keep extending the cut-off year. We will have to draw a line somewhere.
April 3, 2005 (Times of India)MUMBAI: Setting aside political differences, the Shiv Sena has decided to support CM Vilasrao Deshmukh on his controversial stand on migrant population.
In an official reaction to Deshmukh's recent statement in the state legislative assembly that "Mumbai no longer has any room for guests", Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday hoped that the CM would not succumb to pressure from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and change his stand.
April 16, 2005 (The Indian Express)
Mumbai: Mumbai's capacity to absorb 'guests has collapsed and it would deteriorate further if more migrants were allowed to set up shop through the slums route, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil said in the state legislative council on Friday.
"I assure the house that the government would not allow even a single illegal slum to come up in the city".
April 17, 2005 (Times of India)Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday said he had the backing of the most important address in the country (10 Janpath) in his campaign against the humblest of huts without addresses in Mumbai.
..he had been given the freedom by the "high command" to take decisions, including those that would lead to the demolition of illegal slums and deportation of Bangladeshis staying here illegally.
"Nobody asked me anything," Deshmukh said, referring to media reports that the Congress president had asked him to stop the demolition drive. "We have been following Congress polices and keeping the party high command informed. The fact that I have been reappointed chief minister by the Congress high command shows that I enjoy its full trust,"
May 3, 2005 (The Indian Express)
The party's (Congress I) state chief today attributed its poll manifesto assurance to protect or legalise slums that have come up in the city until 2000 to a ''printer's devil''. The Manifesto Implementation Committee which met on Monday discovered the ''error,'' said the chief of the Maharashtra unit, Prabha Rau, this evening. General secretary Margaret Alva, CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and AICC member Madhavsinh Solanki were among those who attended the meeting.
May 7, 2005 (NDTV)
The Maharashtra government has abandoned the controversial slum demolition drive in Mumbai. In an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, the Congress-NCP government has sought permission to extend the cut off date for legalising slums from 1995 to 2000 - as promised in their poll manifesto.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilsarao Deshmukh has said a future course of action will be decided only after a court verdict. "We have asked for the court's permission. Earlier, we had assured them we will not extend the cut off date beyond 1995. But now as we have promised, we have gone back to the court to take advice," says Deshmukh.
Notice for eviction /demolition
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