The Hindu Business Line : Bombay HC extends stay on mill land development

THE Bombay High Court on Wednesday extended until August 31 its interim order restraining Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Maharashtra Government from approving proposals for development of mill land in Mumbai.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) against the mill land redevelopment, Mr Justice F.I. Rebello and Mr Justice S. Kukday today extended the stay pending the appeal filed in the Supreme Court to be heard on May 4.

Mumbai's 300-odd acres land are up for redevelopment.

Under the old Development Control Regulations (DCR) rules, the land would have been divided equally between the mill owner, BMC and the State housing authority. When the DCR was modified in 2001, the share of land that the BMC and housing authority stood to gain was substantially reduced. The writ petition sought the scrapping of the modified DCRs and also put a check on irregularities in mill land redevelopment.

On April 1, the High Court directed BMC to stop granting permissions for mill land redevelopment until further notice. It had also asked the State, BMC and various mill owners to submit detailed affidavits on several criteria such as area size, location and lease status of the mills.

However, the National Textile Corporation, joined by private mill owners such as Bombay Dyeing, Ruby Mills, Hindustan Mills, and the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh, approached the Supreme Court, issuing notice against the Bombay High Court order. The mill owners maintain that stalling their development plans will cost them heavily.

Bombay Dyeing claims that it has incurred liabilities of Rs 900 crore to modernise its mills and also pay VRS to its workers, while NTC feels that its rehabilitation and modernisation will go slow.

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