Decks clear for Mumbai slum redevelopment project

Decks have been cleared for the slum redevelopment project stretching across 17,000 sq.ft in a sea facing prime locality in Worli, Mumbai with the Bombay High Court struck down an order of the High Powered Committee (HPC) cancelling the redevelopment project cleared way back in 1999. For the project about 47 slum dwellers have vacated their respective structures and have shifted to the transit accommodation or alternatively to the accommodations taken by them on rental basis on the money provided by developer. The developer has started demolition of the slum structures but no progress was made and the slum-dwellers could not be rehabilitated for one or the other reasons including the obstruction (by persons claiming to lease rights to the property). But now, the bench directed the CEO of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority to take necessary steps for fast tracking the redevelopment of the project. The high court in its orders stated that HPC had no jurisdiction to decide the title of the land or decide the issue of the lease.