The Bombay HC on Wednesday, April 3, directed the state government to pay ₹15,000 per month as rent and ₹45,000 deposit to the residents who were shifted from the site of Tansa pipeline to Mahul, an industrial area in Chembur East. The bench was headed by Justice Abhay Oka and Justice M. Sanklecha.
The HC also directed to provide them with alternative accommodation. The Mumbai bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) had recorded its observation of the pollution in Mahul. The government pushed the residents to the toxic hell deemed as uninhabitable by the NGT.
Also read- Mahul Residents March To Mantralaya For Escape From Toxic Air
Notably, in 2018, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had started demolishing huts within 100 metres of the Tansa pipeline affecting 7,000 families out of which only 225 have shifted to Mahul.
Before the rent money reaches the citizens, the Maharashtra government, who recently claimed that they can’t afford to pay the residents, might approach the Supreme Court. If that happens, the wait for these residents will only get longer. Even if the state government follows the Bombay HC order, it is only an interim order, as there is no clarity on the long term plan. The biggest question is when will the state government relocate them and give them residence outside Mahul, the ones who are living in the toxic hell and fighting for their life every single day.
Also read- Redevelopment Project: Mahul Residents To Be Moved To Transit Camps In Kurla
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