[Reader-list] [Announcements] Resolution on Mumbai Mill Lands

[GIRNI KAMGAR]

Resolution by participants in the seminar

TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE OF MILL LANDS

Wednesday 16 February 2005, Mumbai


WE, citizens and stakeholders in the city of Mumbai (list of 
signatories below) who are gathered here, resolved to place the 
following resolution before the Government of Maharashtra for immediate 
consideration:

The Mill Lands are the historic industrial core of today’s Mumbai 
Metropolitan Region. As the city authorities and state government seek 
to makeover Mumbai into a global city, the government has not 
recognised that these valuable lands were entrusted to mill owners to 
develop the textile industry and provide employment, not to speculate 
in real estate. This important fact has been repeatedly overlooked in 
the rush by mill owners and builders to cash in on the commercial value 
of the Mill Lands. In 1991, the Maharashtra Government addressed the 
issue by allowing sale and development of mill lands under certain 
conditions, framed in the Development Control Regulations of Greater 
Mumbai (DCR). In Section 58 of the DCR (1991) mill lands were to be 
shared in more or less equal thirds between the Municipal Corporation 
of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for civic amenities; Maharashtra Housing Area 
Development Authority (MHADA), for public housing; and the owners for 
modernisation and development of the mills.

This DCR was amended in 2001, and a provision introduced that within 
the land provided for public housing, 50% would be set aside for 
housing textile workers, and an additional provision made for job 
opportunities for the family members of the textile workers. These 
provisions were included in response to demands made by the textile 
workers, who lost their jobs due to mill closures in Central Mumbai. 
However these provisions will only be on paper, since the land now made 
available under the amended DCR is so miniscule.

In the amended DCR of 2001, the land share of the mill owners has 
increased several times beyond the original one third. The land share 
of the MCGM, meant for creating open spaces and other facilities, as 
well as the land share for MHADA meant for public housing, have been 
reduced by more 90%, often to nil. This was done by making the one 
third divisions applicable only to vacant open land in the mills, and 
removing land on which structures are, or were, standing, from the 
purvey of the one third division. This would have made sense if the 
mills were still running. Since the mills are closed, the land made 
available should logically be the entire land, not just open spaces or 
those on which structures stood. These structures have been or are 
being demolished, to make space for a real estate bonanza for mill 
owners and builders, development which gives nothing to the workers, or 
the city at large.

The closure of the mills has already deprived the workers their 
livelihood. The new modifications proposed to the DCR, while claiming 
to strengthen these rights, will actually hand over the mill lands to 
the owners, to do as they wish. The proposed amendments to DCR will 
also deprive the citizens of Mumbai of badly needed open spaces in a 
congested city. We maintain that the  textile mill lands are different 
from other kinds of industrial land in the city, and require different 
treatment.

We also feel that the amendments to the DCR do not constitute, as the 
Government claims, minor modifications in the Maharashtra Regional and 
Town Planning Act (1966). Any planning of 600 acres of land in the 
centre of the city constitutes a major issue. The modified DCR is an 
attack on citizens rights to space and workers rights to livelihood. 
The committee recently appointed by the Government of Maharashtra and 
chaired by Deepak Parekh to inquire into the mill lands issue is 
compromised by the interests of mill owners, builders and financial 
institution. Any representation by textile workers on the committee is 
conspicuously absent.


We therefore demand that:

1.	The land share of public housing and open spaces in mill lands, as 
per the 1991 DCR, should be restored and stringently applied, not just 
to vacant land or open spaces, but the total land area of the mills. It 
should be seen that the 50% share for public housing is maintained for 
textile workers, and the 2001 condition that workers families be given 
jobs should also be retained and implemented.

2.	The Government must immediately freeze the permissions for building 
construction on the mill lands until the report of the Deepak Parekh 
committee is released and discussed with the various stake-holders, 
including mill workers and citizens groups. This should be implemented 
with retrospective effect, applying to permissions already given under 
the original 1991 and 2001 amended DCR.

3.	The Government must disclose the list of the mills that have been 
already given or to be given clearance for development or redevelopment 
-- including intimations of dissaproval, commencement certificates, 
approved/proposed drawings, true 7/12 extract of land ownership, and 
related permissions -- along with their respective dates.

4.	The Government must disclose, mill-wise, the list of the dues that 
have been paid to the workers of the respective mills (or are still to 
be paid) so that this amount can be juxtaposed against the profits 
generated through the development of the mill land. This will help to 
verify the stated rationale of the government that the increase in land 
share through the modification of section 58 is to pay the workers 
their dues.

5.	The Government must publicly disclose all information on the land 
ownership, leasehold and/or freehold status of the land, and the terms 
and conditions/covenants of every mill. The terms of reference of the 
Parekh committee should be extended in order to obtain and analyse the 
rights associated with mill owners use of the mill lands.

6.	For purposes of these demands and resolutions, the mill land being 
considered includes both the mills of the National Textile Corporation 
as well as private textile mills.


We resolve:

1. To set up an independent committee/study group of citizens groups, 
workers organisations and labour and housing activists to investigate 
into these issues and publish a report on its findings into the full 
range of issues relating to the mill lands. This committee will access 
all documents and information relating to land ownership, lease and 
tenures, development plans and building proposals cleared under the 
original and modified DC Rules. The committee will represent 
independent views and have a wide terms of reference to include land 
ownership, urban planning and comprehensive integrated area development 
of the entire mill lands.

2. To distribute and publicise this set of demands and resolutions 
across a broad section of the public, civic organisations and social 
movements and to convene another meeting on the issue within a 
fortnight of this meeting.



Signed by:

Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti
Mumbai Study Group
Chemical Mazdoor Sabha
Workers Hind Textile Mills
Girangaon Rozgar Hakk Samiti
Majlis
Hind Mazdoor Sabha
Action for Good Governance and Networking in India ( AGNI)
CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust)
Hindustan Siddhi Vinayak Kamgar Sangh
Bombay First
Textile Workers Federation of India
Zhopadpatti Bachao Parishad
LEARN and Aapli Mumbai
Combat Law
India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL)
Mumbai Citizens Group
FOCUS on the Global South
Praja Foundation
Yusuf Meherally Centre
Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) Dock Kamgar and General Employees Union
Kamgar Aghadi
CITU (Centre for Indian Trade Unions)
NAPM (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
CED (Centre for Education and Documentation)
INTBAU India
Nivara Hakk Sangharsh Samiti
Mill Mazdoor Sangh

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