Dedications

The government's corrupt practise of giving flats to land encroachers is nothing but vote bank politics and abatement to crime of land grabbing? Why should anyone be given free homes when they have illegally encroached on public property? Then post encroachment they are given electricity and water? So is this not legalizing encroachment? Then to fool citizens giving a cut of date to legalise illegal properties prior to a certain date would be legal to get free housing?

This is not saying the poor and marginalized be not taken care. If you are giving free homes, then don't allow them to be sold. Slum Rehabilitation Authority is allowing sale of these flats after 10 years. So basically these illegal encroachments get free housing and free long term investment. In Bandra West in Mumbai, home to celebrities and the ugly rich, SRA flats of around 250 square feet are getting sold for minimum 75 lakhs plus approx 89000 USD. All this for politicians to farm votes? It is just apathy and 'it does not effect me attitude' of the citizens that the politicians are exploiting.

A simple solution would be giving free homes with a condition it cannot be sold. Let these houses be given for 50 years lease and after that the government takes it over. Presuming in next 50 years that there would be no more slums. If after 50 years of giving a roof a generation is not able to buy a house in the suburbs, then let them be located to far off suburbs, with same conditions when they get their first free home. Or every SRA sale ensure is taxed to 100% of land reckoner value. Then no one will buy it. Ideal is no voting rights to those living on encroached land. This way politicians vote bank will bankrupt.

If citizens don't awake now, Mumbai will soon be a Slum Capital of India. As anyways Dharavi is the largest slum cluster in Asia. Which is now planned to be given to a capitalist who is allegedly going to change it? Change it to what? Where slums would be cramed into matchbox dwellings and these buildings cramped so close that you can virtually walk across the other building from any floor. So basically taking horizontal slums and making them vertical?

The balance land the capitalist builds swanky glass facade buildings with no concern to damage to the environment or ecology of the place. A place which has a river that is called Mithi river, meaning sweet river now a sewer of industrial and human waste. So this capitalist will laugh his way to the Bank and Mumbai retains it's title of financial capital of the world. Resulting in the average Mumbaikar who in a slumber to be a known as a slumbaikar? Wake up Mumbai before it's too late. 

# posted by Sunny Fernandes @ 7:33 PM