'Netas agree that slums must go,' says DNA.
‘For the first time in several years, the BMC looks set to push ahead with its slum-removal programme without political hindrance. The two usual suspects, Gurudas Kamat, Congress MP from Mumbai Northeast, and Kripashankar Singh, Congress MLA from Santa Cruz, have pledged not to intervene in the removal of slums that have come up after January 1, 2000. Chief Minister Vilasrao Desmukh has categorically told Joseph that all hutments after 2000 must go,' the article says.
So we’ll see another round of bulldozers. But the problem will not go away.
No one seems to be asking the pertinent question on this issue. How did the slums come up in the first place? Are the officials responsible for allowing the slums to come up being punished? If the government is serious about the problem it should warn civil officials that there is zero-tolerance for illegal structures coming up on public land under their watch. And hand out exemplar punishment to officials who do not obey orders.
Otherwise the bulldozers will raze a few hundreds of shanties. And people will forget about the issue. Slums will mushroom again all around us. And I will be sitting in 2010, linking to some story about how the government has decided to demolish slums built before 2005.