After demanding water supply for illegal slums, the Congress now wants the BMC to allow multistorey slum structures in the city. The Congress wants the BMC to let slums grow as tall as 18 feet.
Congress corporator Parminder Bhamra has demanded that slums that came up before 1995 should be allowed to grow vertically. The Congress is hoping that the move will help them connect to slum dwellers ahead of the BMC polls.
"Many people stay in slums in the city. The small hutments are not enough to house so many people. So floors have to be increased. Already, slum structures in MHADA and other state government layouts are 18 feet high. The same should be allowed on BMC land too. All slums from before 1995 should be allowed a height of 18 feet," Bhamra said in the proposal.
The BMC administration claimed that height of slums is regulated by the state government and the BMC can't do much about it. Last month, city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had demanded that the BMC provide drinking water to slums that have come up after 2000.
"The Shiv Sena and the BJP keep changing their stand. We want the BMC to give water to slums and let people increase height of the shanties. We will support this demand on humanitarian grounds," Nirupam said.
BMC officials said that the issue would be discussed at the civic improvements committee later this week. "If it is approved by the civic general body, we will send the resolution to the state government. They will take a final call on the issue," the official pointed out.
Officials said that permitting slum structures that are up to 18-20 feet in height in effect allows slum dwellers to build two additional floors. At the moment, the maximum height for slum structures is restricted at 14 feet, which is essentially ground plus one floor.
"The BMC doesn't have a policy on this issue. Slums should be regularized as it will generate more revenue for the BMC. Anyway, slum dwellers have built multistorey structures and are illegal," said BJP's Prakash Gangadhare, who heads the civic improvements committee.
With the Congress now batting for slum dwellers, the issue is set to become an election issue for the BMC polls. With the civic elections just over a year away, political parties are wooing slum dwellers.
