NDTV Correspondent, Wednesday March 31, 2010, Mumbai The Golibar slum in Mumbai's Santa Cruz suburb is the site of a new controversy over Defence Land.
The Air Force alleges that a set of six buildings have illegally come up on 12 acres of its land which could be worth several hundred crores, with the connivance of government officials.
The buildings are part of government slum rehabilitation scheme but the Air Force has alleged that it is defence land which the state government has grabbed without permission.
The Air Force has taken the state housing agency MHADA and the private developer Shivalik Ventures to a city court. It wants the buildings to be demolished.
Nearly 26,000 slum dwellers are to be rehabilitated through this multi-crore project and now many are worried as to what will happen if land ownership is being disputed.
Kalimuddin Sheikh says, "All the locals here were supposed to be rehabilitated on plot number 13 ...MHADA was claiming that it is their land now the defence has made counter claim..."
"I don't think so the project is being carried keeping the SRA norms in mind...", adds another resident, S Atamaram.
Government officials refused to come on record, but they say the Air Force had already lost control of the land because it was encroached by slums. The state housing board says they have documents showing the land belongs to them. Also the project was cleared by another department, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
Shivalik Ventures has denied any illegality. It claims it has not built anything on Air Force Land.
"The buildings have not come up on Air Force land but on an adjoining plot. We have received all the necessary clearances from the government. We have not been served any notice on the case", they say.
The claims and counter-claims on this disputed land will now be tested in court.
Air Force moves court over land grab in Mumbai
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