[Reader-list] Citizens Protest Mill Lands Ruling

[announcer at lists.crit.org.in]

MARCH FOR MUMBAI!

People of Mumbai! Lets fight for open spaces, clean air, infrastructure and public housing! Maharashtra government must legislate for citizens not only mill owners and builders! The people of Mumbai, are shocked by the Supreme Court judgment on mill lands. The Supreme Court judgment has not only given commercial interests more importance than the collective needs of a dying city, it has actually supported the blatantly illegitimate demands of the builders and mill owners. Its implications are far reaching.

VIOLATION OF THE BASIC PROPERTY LAW: YOU CANNOT SELL WHAT YOU DO NOT OWN! 600 acres of land in the heart of Mumbai is occupied by textile mills, most of which have been closed. Much of this land was leased to the mill owners or sold at very low rates for the purpose of starting mills over a century ago. The land could not be sold, until 1991 when the law was amended, then too mainly for reviving sick mills. Today when the mills have shut down, there is a rush to exploit it as real estate, without providing livelihood and homes to the mill workers and much needed infrastructure for the city.  The judiciary and the State Government have been callous enough to support sale of this land by Mill owners with hardly any conditions.

CHEATED OF OUR RIGHT TO HOUSING, INFRASTRUCTURE, OPEN SPACE, FRESH AIR! By Rule 58 of the DCR of 1991, mill lands could be sold, provided a third was reserved for public use [like parks and play grounds], a third for affordable housing and a third for owners to develop as they pleased.  Mill owners got equal FSI for the land that they were 'giving up'. But they were greedy for more. A modification in 2001 by the Maharashtra Government reduced the land available for public spaces -- parks, playgrounds pedestrian areas, etc -- from 200 acres to just 32 acres. Where there would have been in 45000 low cost houses, there would now be just 5000 houses. This was struck down by the Mumbai High Court and now reinstated by the Supreme Court. The extensive unplanned commercial development that would take place as a result of this sale, would cause terrible congestion, traffic problems and put an enormous strain the on existing services which are woefully inadequate. Only Mumbaiites can 
truly understand what this means.

A CAUSE FOR ALARM! The opening up of the mill lands as per the Supreme court judgment will set the wrong precedent for all other such large govt owned lands most of which are on lease such as the Bombay Port Trust land, the waterfront, land owned by the Railways, etc, which could be then opened up to private developers for commercial exploitation. People in Mumbai will then only be able to walk around malls instead of open spaces.

DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? The Supreme Court in its ruling says that it "had to choose between environment and development and it chose development which it claims  is "sustainable". This development is certainly not in the interest of citizens of Mumbai and cannot be described as sustainable. In this case it is not just the environment, but largely local people, citizens of Mumbai who are being marginalized for the benefit of a few.

DO WE AS CITIZENS  HAVE THE POWER TO RECLAIM  WHAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO US? This is valuable land in the heart of the city, can and should be used to provide affordable housing for the mill workers, rehabilitation for slums and dilapidated tenanted buildings, low income housing, green spaces and vegetation to act as pollution sinks, public amenities like markets, playgrounds, community centres, special schools and medical institutions, public Infrastructure facilities, sewerage lines and plants, that would reduce the load on the overworked infrastructure of Mumbai city and even the revival of the textile industry. No elected representatives or public servants have the right to gift it away.

It is time to come together and demand our rights as citizens. We have the right to participate in the planning of the city. We demand that the Maharashtra Government immediately and urgently bring in legislation providing 1/3rd, 1/3rd and 1/3rd division of the Mill Land area in the interest of the people and the environment.

We call on you to join us on the protest march to the Mantralaya on  March 14th at 3 pm from Azad Maidan, to demand justice for Mumbai, to demand that the Maharashtra govt. which should represent the citizens of Mumbai, immediately legislate to protect the mill workers and the city!

AGNI, AKSHARA, ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS CONFERERATION, ALL INDIA LIC EMPLOYEES FEDERATION, ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS, CENTRE OF INDIAN TRADE UNIONS, CITISPACE, COMET MEDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST), DOCUMENTATION RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTRE, EKTA, FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH, FORUM AGAINST OPRESSION OF WOMEN, GIRNI BHADEKARU SANGHARSH SAMITI, GIRNI KAMGAR SANGARSH SAMITI, INDIAN FEDERATION OF TRACE UNIONS, INDIA CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LAW, LOK RAJ SANGHATAN, MAHARASHTRA ASSOCIATION OF RESIDENT DOCTORS, MAJLIS, MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, MUMBAI ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL NETWORK, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR TRADTITIONAL BUILDING ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISATION,  MUMBAI PORT TRUST AND DOCK WORKERS UNION, NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PEOPLES MOVEMENTS, NATIONAL FISHWORKERS FORUM, NIRBHAY BANO ANDOLAN, NIVARA HAKK SAURAKSHAN SAMITI, PEOPLES MEDIA INITIATIVE, SHAHER VIKAS MANCH, STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES UNION, 
TRADE UNION SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS COLLECTIVE, YOUTH FOR UNITY AND VOLUNTARY ACTION (YUVA)


Mumbai Peoples Action Committee (MPAC)
7/61, Modern Mills compound,
KK Marg, Saat Rasta (Jacob Circle)
Mumbai 400011
Phone +91.22.2417.4048



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CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust), Mumbai
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