Despite a report submitted by the Mumbai Slum Improvement Board (MSIB) to Maharashtra government in 2010 about 327 areas being prone to landslides in Mumbai, the government is yet to take an action, revealed a Right to Information (RTI) query.
According to details obtained from the Housing ministry of the state government by RTI activist Anil Galgali, the MSIB in April 2010 had carried out a survey across 25-assembly constituencies in the city, Western and Eastern suburbs, which revealed that over 22,483 hutments in 327 hilly areas were dangerous and needed to be shifted.
Officials from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and Mumbai suburban Collectorate based on the survey findings recommended to the state government that 9,657 huts needed shifting on a priority basis, while the remaining could be protected by constructing retaining walls around the hills.
Based on the findings, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in September 2011, had ordered the Urban Development Ministry to prepare an action plan and report the amount of land available for development and for the rehabilitation of the slum dwellers within one month.
Despite the orders from the CM’s office 34-month back and a revelation under an RTI query that nearly 260 people have lost their lives and more than 270 have been injured in landslides between 1992 and 2013, the Urban Development ministry is yet to prepare an action plan or implement steps for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers, Galgali said.
