Pre-2011 slums on govt, forest land across Maharashtra to be protected: Minister

Mumbai, Jul 9 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced that all unauthorised houses built on government or forest lands before January 1, 2011, would be protected, and the occpants would be rehabilitated where regularisation is not possible. "No eligible resident occupying a house built before January 1, 2011, will be rendered homeless. The government is committed to ensuring rehabilitation for all eligible beneficiaries," Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule told the legislative assembly. A comprehensive survey of such settlements would be completed within three months and a rehabilitation plan would be prepared, he said. The decision would cover slums on government, forest, CIDCO (City And Industrial Development Corporation Of Maharashtra) and other central and state government authority lands. Eligible residents of such slums would be rehabilitated through schemes implemented by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (MHADA) and other government housing agencies, the minister said. A high-level committee headed by the Konkan Divisional Commissioner with the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban district Collectors as members has been constituted to oversee the survey and prepare a rehabilitation roadmap. Large-scale housing settlements exist on mangrove, forest, revenue, nazool (leased by government) and CIDCO lands in Mumbai, its suburbs and the Konkan region where regularisation is often not possible because of environmental restrictions, development plans or forest regulations, Bawankule said. The government will conduct biometric and physical surveys of all eligible occupants over the next three months, he said. A master plan will then be prepared to identify cases where regularisation is not possible and decide how the occupants should be rehabilitated, the minister said. PTI MR KRK