Last week, the Bombay High Court (HC) restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from demolishing shops at Dindoshi for Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project worth ₹6000 crores.
The petitioners informed the HC that compensation offered by the civic body was inadequate as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
According to the reports, the civic administration offered a fourth of the compensation they deserved. The compensation was given after shopkeepers had refused the BMC's offer to rehabilitate them at Charkop.
While hearing the petitions of 15 of the 50 affected shopkeepers, the HC was enlightened that the civic body, without following proper procedure, had started demolishing a large number of structures bordering Gen AK Vaidya Marg in Goregaon East. They didn't even give adequate compensation.
The GMLR aims at connecting the Eastern and Western Express Highway with two flyovers. They will also be constructing two 4.75-km-long tunnels 20 meters below the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).
The compensation of ₹35-38 lakh by the BMC is only a fourth of the market value, as per the shopkeepers. Hence, they refused to accept it. The bench will now continue the hearing on Wednesday, December 1.
Meanwhile, the much-awaited construction work on GMLR underground tunnels is expected to start by mid-2022.
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