After airport, Centre questions development of saltpan land in Mumbai

The state government is under pressure from the Centre to stay the release of 2,177 hectares of saltpan land in Mumbai for redevelopment, fearing it would lead to trouble in the flood-prone city.

The state government had planned to give this land to private developers for slum rehabilitation projects in lieu of incentives.

Sources in the ministry of urban development told DNA, “There is a shift in our policy because of environmental concerns. Allowing construction activity on saltpan land will lead to floods.” The saltpans spread across the city provide cushioning by holding back water during high tides in small puddles and releasing it back into the sea.

The shift in state policy is a result of the change of guard at the Centre. The group of ministers (GoM) looking into the issue, as well as the Union environment ministry, do not share the state’s view on the matter. Sources said, “At present, this GoM is headed by home minister P Chidambaram, while the Union minister for environment is Jairam Ramesh. Both have urged the state to reconsider the environmental aspect before releasing the saltpans for development.” The only exception made is a 700m stretch, already approved for the Eastern Highway project.

The state government is exercising caution and trying not to defy the Centre to prevent any adverse impacts. In 2006, former industry minister Kamal Nath had consented to the state government’s proposal of using the 2,177 hectares of saltpans for the resettlement of slum colonies under a self-finance scheme.

The argument given was that if saltpans remain unattended, they would be illegally encroached upon, as salt extracting is a defunct business. To buttress the stand, it was pointed out that 460 hectares were already illegally occupied. Hence, a self-finance scheme was worked out for the relocation of slum colonies that were occupying the state’s and Centre’s prime properties and hampering large infrastructure projects like the airport and port
expansion.

 The idea was that the land would be shared between the Centre and the state. Slums on the lands owned by the central government, like the ones abutting the Mumbai airport (80,000 hutments), Bombay Port Trust (15,000) and the Railways (exact figures not available) would be rehabilitated on the Centre’s share of saltpans. Likewise, slum dwellers on state and BMC-owned land would be settled on saltpans under the state’s title.

However, the land sharing formula could not be worked out despite concerted efforts. What also complicated the matter was that a portion of the saltpan land given on lease can’t be acquired until 2012.

But that did not stop the state from working out a redevelopment model for its share of the land - it would be handed over to private developers for rehabilitating slum colonies, and in return they would be given incentives like commercial exploitation of a part of the land, or additional floor space index for the developer’s other projects.