No new family to be moved to Mahul: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday came to the rescue of Project-Affected-Persons (PAP) of the Tansa pipeline project. It directed the state government to stop further rehabilitation of Project Affected People (PAP) to Mahul and asked to pay rent to the families living in the industrial belt till it provides them alternative accommodation.

The verdict is a victory for hundreds of Mahul residents who have been protesting against their deplorable living conditions.

The Chief Justice in his order said that those families who have been shifted to the areas be paid Rs 15,000 per month as transit rent and Rs 45,000 as deposit till the government provides them alternative accommodation. The direction is to be complied with within 12 weeks of the order.

Pointing out that in May 1997, the Committee on Economy, Social and Cultural Rights has adopted a Comment which prohibits forced eviction, the court stressed that the state must refrain from forced evictions and ensure that the law is enforced against third parties who do it. It also mentioned another Comment adopted by the Committee which requires the state to confer legal security of tenure upon households which lack such protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats by state agencies and private parties.

The order also said that a perusal of reports prepared by three government agencies showed that "air pollution in Mahul continues to be disturbingly high and to this day, still poses a threat to human life." The judgment also referred to a report by IIT-Bombay submitted on March this year which recorded the prevalence of serious diseases such as TB and cancer among Mahul residents. As per the report, Mahul "portrays an irrefutable picture of the fate of those persons being compelled to live in Mahul against their will, not merely in terms of their health, but also the domino effect of their poor health on their ability to live a dignified life as self-sufficient, productive members of society."

It further stated, "residential premises in the vicinity of such refineries can pose multi-faceted security risk...a terrorist attack using these refineries as targets could lead to colossal destruction within the city, that could debilitate a large number of people living around the Chembur region."

The court also commended the government's move to allot homes 2,000 police officers and constables in the Mahul colony to quell concerns about security. "To this day not a single police officer is ready to accept the homes allotted to them" as they share the same health concerns, observed the court.