The Hindu Business Line : Nod for construction activities — Mumbai Mill owners welcome SC verdict

THE Supreme Court's order allowing private mill owners to continue with construction after getting mandatory approvals was largely received with cheer by mill owners.

Activists were pleased that the apex court had said that the Mumbai High Court would decide the case and that mill owners would still be forced to provide details on various clearances and redevelopment over the last 10 years. The information has to be submitted by July 31.

According to Mr V.K. Tripathi, Managing Director, NTC (South Maharashtra), the Supreme Court order was a balanced one. It would mean, he said, that the NTC could get on with the sale of five of its textile mills, the layouts of which had already been approved by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.

According to information, three mills — Hindoostan 3 & 4 and New Hind Textile — are also to be given to BMC and the State's housing authority.

Mr Shyam Chainani of the Bombay Environmental Action Group, and the one who initiated the public interest litigation asking the Mumbai High Court to scrap the modified Development Control Regulation 58, saw the Supreme Court's decision as good to the "extent that the Court has stayed construction and it is a good chance to save open spaces for the poor and lower middle classes of the city".

Ms Neera Adarkar, architect and activist, said that the Supreme Court's decision would now "force the mill owners and the government to provide information on leases and redevelopment activity over the last 10 years" as was earlier requested by the High Court. However, most of the mill owners, she said, had received their CCs (commencement certificates) in the last four-five months. One of the issues that would need to be verified now was how many CCs have been received by the builders and mill owners and the kind of work actually carried out.

Under the earlier Development Control Regulation 58, mill land would have been proportionately divided between the owner, BMC and the State housing authority. However, the Development Control Regulation 58 was modified in 2001 and significantly reduced the land available to the BMC and MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) to create civic amenities, low-cost housing and open spaces and parks.

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