Mumbai: Questioning whether the rights of ‘rassi holders’–the traditional clothes-drying community using the city’s famed heritage Dhobi Ghat at Mahalaxmi since 1851–were protected, Bombay high court has directed BMC to state on oath what permissions were granted to permit a slum rehabilitation scheme on the open public land.The rassi holders had moved HC saying they were being “ousted” from nearly two acres of their drying area, the floor space index (FSI) of which was being used for a slum rehabilitation project on land five times their area. All they would be given are some “drying machines”.“The situation is not only peculiar but alarming,” HC said.HC directed the additional municipal commissioner to explain the “entire decision-making process to give away the land” for a slum scheme and stressed that the affidavit must be approved by the municipal commissioner. HC expressed concern that such public land “could at all be included in such clandestine manner for a slum scheme, much less by destroying the traditional rights of the rassi holders like the petitioners, which are statutorily recognised.”“Such open public land being used for a slum scheme, that too without recognition of the legal rights, and the procedure in law being followed to convert municipal lands traditionally used under the heritage precincts of the Dhobighat, is a matter of serious concern,” said Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale in an Aug 18 order. The bench said the issue is also that “these valuable public lands cannot be just thrown out…from the public pool of which BMC is the custodian” and be used for a “forced redevelopment as part of an alleged slum scheme.”Their counsel, Amogh Singh, argued that the project was permitted without the land being declared a slum first as required by law.Calling for a reply before the next hearing on Sept 1, HC said, “The least which was expected was that prima facie the petitioners could not have been ousted without a guarantee of appropriate rehabilitation, as it would be necessary in a regular slum scheme.”“If what is being canvassed by the petitioners is the correct position, this would really intrigue us,” said the HC judges, questioning whether their rights recognised since 1851 can be “extinguished in such a manner.”HC said it was of particular concern since “the land in question is located at a very prime area in South Mumbai, abutting the Mahalaxmi Racecourse’’ and thus “obviously it was vulnerable.”HC was hearing petitions by Nagendra Kanojiya and others who said that for more than 170 years, historically 720 rassi holders have been identified as using the land to dry clothes.
