Sons of soil settled on Government Lands must be equal protection as that of "Slum Dwellers". Letter to Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra & Ors

Bhartiy varta :

Jagdish K Kashikar

Freelancer Journalist  Mumbai, Maharashtra.

WhatsApp - 9768425757

This has reference to recent question raised by Mr. Sunil Rane, MLA in the Budget Session of Assembly, demanding removal of all encroachments particularly hotels from Versova, Madh, Marve, Manori and Gorai on "Government Lands" due to constructions of 5 bridges.

Mr. Sunil Rane has also raised the issue of encroachments on coastal areas of the above region, where members of Koli Community are engaged in fishing activities.

Firstly, we object to this selective action which has far reaching consequences on coastal communities who are traditionally engaged in fishing activities, which will hamper this livelihood drastically.

Secondly, there are thousands of slums not only mushrooming everywhere in Mumbai City, but also going vertical including the constituency of Mr. Sunil Rane i.e. Borivali Vidhan Sabha, but no action is sought against such illegal structures, which is putting additional burden on civic infrastructure, which is likely to collapse in near future.  

We demand to know why only target the sons of the soil and leave migrants to flourish by land grabbing, which rampant in entire city.

The State Government cannot be seen taking actions, if any, in selective manner against illegal structures.

We therefore demand that all sons of the soil, who are settled on the Government Land for decades,  must be given equal protection as those afforded to slum dwellers on public properties under Slum Act.  

Watchdog Foundation

Bombay East Indian Association