MUMBAI, OCT 1: The Bombay High Court has ordered the state government to file a detailed affidavit explaining aspects of rehabilitation and viability of the Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp (SSPP), which envisages free houses for slum dwellers.The order follows a petition filed by Rahul New Prabuddh Dyaneshwar Nagar Co-operative Housing Society, formed by residents of Rahul Nagar slum, Sewri. The division bench of Justice B P Saraf and A Y Sakhare posted the hearing of the petition for two weeks from now, and ordered that till then, the residents should not be compelled to shift to transit camps.A 9,921 square metre plot, Rahul Nagar, with 318 kutcha houses, is to be completely rehabilitated under SSPP, and the residents have been asked to move to camps in Mankhurd-Kurla. The government has also sent the residents a notice informing them of the proposed demolition of their kutcha homes. The residents have now urged the court to ask the government to explain the process of rehabilitation andwhether free houses can possibly be built. The court has asked the state government to explain what Rahul Nagar's rehabilitation package is likely to be.The residents claim to stayed on the plot for over 20 years. Earlier, around 82 families resided in neighbouring Prabudha Nagar. but a fire broke out there in 1970, and the families then shifted, supposedly temporarily, to Rahul Nagar, where they stayed on. The residents claim that all governments have made them tall promises of rehabilitation: first the Congress government under the Rajiv Gandhi Nivara Prakalp, later the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party's Slum Redevelopment Scheme. However, despite finalisation of layouts and agreements with builders, the projects have stayed on paper. Unless proper rehabilitation is guaranteed, the residents say they will not move out.The petition has also expressed doubts about SSPP's economic viability. The source of finance for a project of this scale is still unclear, it points out. Since the BJP, the Shiv Sena'salliance partner in the state, has openly opposed the scheme, slum dwellers are not enthused by the project, the petition states.
