The state government, which plans to use salt pan land in the far eastern suburbs to provide homes to 1.48 lakh mill workers by roping in private players, is seeking the Centre’s help to reclaim stretches of the encroached land.
The Centre’s approval is required as a part of the salt pan land is owned by the Union government. Spread over 2,777 hectares, nearly one-third of the land is illegally occupied by slums while another one-third is caught up in legal tangles. Of a total of 1.48 lakh mill workers, the government has ready houses for only 16,000 workers.
Sources in the state’s urban development said if the state and Centre reclaim part of the land, it could accommodate mill workers and people affected by infrastructure projects. “But a lot depends on the Centre’s response to the state’s proposal,” said the official.
Accommodation for mill workers has become the state government’s Achilles Heel in recent times, with Opposition parties sparing no opportunity to target the ruling dispensation. During the last one year, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan who had committed to resolve mill workers’ housing issues, has failed to make much headway.
What has worsened matters in recent times is that Chavan has stated that the government will not provide free accommodation to mill workers.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Tawde said the government can solve the problem within a month if it has the political will. “The MMRDA has plans for 5 lakh houses. Why can’t they set aside 1.48 lakh for mill workers.”
The Shiv Sena and BJP have been milking the issue dry, knowing that it can use it to target the ruling alliance till the next elections.
A senior minister of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a part of the ruling alliance, said that his party had warned Chavan in advance to tread this issue carefully. “Instead, of reviving mill workers’ hopes by making promises for houses in Mumbai, the government should have insisted on providing homes at their home towns,” said the minister.
According to Dalit writer Arjun Dange, “The ruling Congress-NCP government has always been calculating expenses when it comes to social cause. But what about plots handed over to big developers at throwaway prices? Also, it’s shocking that the state has failed to release 12.5 acres of Indu Mill land for the Ambedkar memorial despite prime minister Manmohan Singh’s directives.”
