Kurla-Trombay slum rehabilitation has moved onto the state government’s immediate agenda after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to prepare a Detailed Project Report for hutment dwellers living along railway tracks in the area. The direction followed concerns over eviction notices issued by the railway administration to residents who have lived in the settlements for several years.
According to an official statement reported by Mid-Day, Shinde also contacted Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and requested his intervention. The issue was discussed at a review meeting held at Sahyadri Guest House on November 5 to examine pending rehabilitation, redevelopment and civic infrastructure matters in the Chembur, Kurla and Chandivali Assembly constituencies.
The affected settlements extend along railway tracks from Chikhilwadi and RCF-Priyadarshini to Mahul in the Kurla-Trombay area. Shinde instructed the SRA to coordinate with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other concerned agencies before submitting the rehabilitation report. He also directed authorities to ensure that action taken in response to the railway notices does not create law-and-order problems.
The direction places the SRA at the centre of a rehabilitation process involving railway land, municipal agencies and residents facing possible displacement. The official statement did not specify the number of affected households, the proposed rehabilitation sites, the project cost or a deadline for completing the Detailed Project Report. It also did not announce any immediate suspension of the railway notices.
The meeting covered other housing and redevelopment issues in the eastern suburbs. The proposed redevelopment of the municipal employees’ low-rise tinsheet housing colony at Khardeo Nagar through the SRA was discussed, along with the redevelopment of residential cooperative housing societies belonging to BMC employees in the Chembur Assembly constituency. Shinde said the government would consider a new policy on premiums charged for the redevelopment of these housing societies.
The administration also reviewed the case of retired BMC employees whose financial benefits and pensions have been withheld because they have not vacated official accommodation after retirement. Shinde said withholding the entire amount payable to such employees was not appropriate and directed officials to examine cases in which families had difficulty vacating homes because their children had obtained BMC jobs on compassionate grounds. Officials were asked to submit a proposal on the matter on priority.
Civic infrastructure problems in Kurla were also raised at the meeting. Sewage pipeline issues in the MHADA colonies of Nehru Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Sahakar Nagar and New Tilak Nagar were discussed, with Shinde directing the concerned agencies to coordinate action. Rehabilitation questions involving hutment dwellers in Sable Nagar, Kranti Nagar and Santoshi Mata Nagar, as well as railway project-affected residents along Burma Shell Line, were also part of the review.
Chandivali MLA Dilip Lande raised requests concerning a BMC-reserved plot for a new Sakinaka police station building, the relocation of residents from dangerous settlements on hillsides and at their foothills, and the inclusion of the Sakinaka green belt within the residential zone. Shinde directed officials to work towards permanent solutions while keeping residents’ safety in view. The next formal step on the railway-side settlements is the preparation and submission of the SRA’s detailed rehabilitation report.
