Bombay HC Demands Latest Figures on Mumbai’s Slum Coverage from BMC, SRA

The Bombay High Court asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) for updated data on how much of Mumbai is covered by slums on Monday, October 15. The most recent data available was from 2019. 

Senior counsel Milind Sathe, representing the BMC, said the 2019 data was collected in response to a public interest litigation filed by the non-profit organisation Citispace. However, the court made it clear that it wanted updated figures. 

The bench asked BMC and SRA to provide the following details: 

1. How much of Mumbai’s land is currently covered by slums and the total size of the city. 

2. Slum areas, which are owned by entities like the Airport Authority of India, private companies, the central government, and the BMC.

3. A detailed chart showing which areas have already been marked as slums and which ones are under consideration for slum designation.

4. Specifics on how much land had been notified or was close to being notified as slum areas. 

5. The latest data on the number of people living in slums. 

The bench further asked all parties to present their views on the issue. The SRA will consider these inputs. State Attorney General Birendra Saraf requested more time to respond due to upcoming elections.

This matter is part of a larger concern where over 1,600 cases regarding the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act remain pending in the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court (SC) had expressed concern over the functioning of the Slum Act. It also ordered the High Court to start a suo motu hearing to perform an audit of the slum redevelopment law.

Later, the high court court was tasked with conducting a "performance audit" of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. The audit would focus on the challenges in the law's implementation.

The Supreme Court asked the Bombay HC Chief Justice to set up a special bench for this. The bench of Justices Firdosh Pooniwalla and Girish Kulkarni was formed on August 12 after the SC's July 30 directive. The High Court scheduled the next hearing for December 6.