Mumbai: The state government's ambitious plan to rehabilitate post-1995
slums in Mumbai will now face the test of five new administrative committees
set up by chief secretary R M Premkumar on Monday.

Having failed to frame a clear policy on slum rehabilitation, the state
government is eager to delay decision making on the contentious issue. So,
it has appointed five new panels to probe issues such as land availability,
FSI and infrastructure in Mumbai. The committees will submit their reports
after three months.

At a meeting on a slum policy for Mumbai, Premkumar directed officials
of the housing and the urban development departments to focus on specific
issues and submit an exhaustive reports on their findings. "The
administration is trying to buy time. The government has already set up a
committee headed by the chief secretary to settle slum rehabilitation
issues. He was given three-month time to make his recommendations to the
government. Infact, the state has to file its reply on a PIL on this issue
by October 17. However, instead of taking a final decision the
administration has decided to delay it,'' an official said.

Premkumar, however, said the committees were set up on the basis of
guidelines by the court, which had directed the participation of
voluntaryorganisations working in slums during framing of the new policy.

Publication:Times Of India Mumbai; Date:Oct 11, 2005; Section:Times City;
Page Number:5

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