While BMC announced that 2 lakh shanties in Mumbai need to be razed, politics comes into play as civic polls are around the corner
The mishap in Behrampada led to the BMC chief announcing the decision to raze illegal multi-storied shanties
As is usually the case with most projects that the civic body undertakes, its latest endeavour — to raze shanties higher than 14 feet as they are a safety concern — has run into trouble before it even took off.
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Following the recent incident at Behrampada, Bandra, BMC chief Ajoy Mehta instructed the civic body yesterday to initiate immediate action against multi-storied shanties, but citing a recent survey that revealed that there are over 2 lakh shanties across the city that fit the criteria, there was uproar over the decision.
To make matters worse, political parties seeking to draw mileage from the issue have drawn battle lines and opposing the decision since the civic polls are just a few months away and they don’t want to upset their votebank.
Civic body’s dilemma
Following the announcement, the BMC has faced backlash due to the large number of shanties that are in the line of fire, which coupled with the timing, has turned into a perfect storm. A senior civic official said, “Two lakh is a really large number and it’s not easy to complete the task. Along with this, the local corporators are reluctant to let us demolish for fear of repercussions in the upcoming BMC election and taking into account our past experience, we are going to face opposition from residents as well.”
The survey report, which was conducted at the behest of the civic chief following the Juhu fire mishap in July that claimed nine lives, was submitted by ward officials with an action plan that tentatively estimates the demolition should be done within one to six months.
However, following the pressure from political parties, Mehta has assured that initial priority will be placed on shanties that are four to five storey-high. “We will focus on razing multi-storey shanties that have been constructed without any permission.”
Politics as usual
As soon as the civic body announced its intent, politics as usual came into play and parties picked sides. While Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP and Samajwadi Party have opposed the proposed demolition, BJP and MNS have chosen to side with the commissioner’s call for action.
Sena group leader Trushna Vishwasrao demanded that one-storey shanties be spared. “The BMC’s decision has created panic amongst citizens. The BMC has already sent a proposal to the state government to regularize slums that have 18-feet high shanties so the current action should be stopped.”
Meanwhile, MNS group leader Sandip Deshpande supported the commissioner’s action. “Shiv Sena and Congress are playing politics over height of slums by ignoring safety concerns. The commissioner should continue his action against such structures.”
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