Bombay HC seeks govt stand on hutments over tunnel in Thane

Trains ply between Thane and Dombivli, and Kalwa and Mumbra stations through the tunnel. File pic

The Bombay High Court today sought to know the Maharashtra government's stand on rehabilitation of people living in over 200 shanties which pose a risk to a tunnel on the Central Railway line in neighbouring Thane district and said the hutments need to be removed.

A division bench of justices A S Oka and Vibha Kankanwadi raised concerns over the danger that the hutments pose, considering the upcoming monsoon season.

"This is a very serious and important issue. In order to avoid any untoward incident like landslides which will not only put the lives of the hutment dwellers in danger but also the railway passengers, it is necessary to remove the hutments immediately," Justice Oka said.

The court was hearing an application filed by Central Railway seeking it to vacate a July 2016 order of the high court granting stay on eviction of the hutments.

Last June, post a landslide in the area, the Thane Municipal Corporation had issued eviction notices to the shanties on and around the Parsik tunnel at Mumbra in Thane.

The tunnel that cuts right through the Parsik hill is an important link for the Central Railway's suburban and long distance lines.

The dwellers had then approached the high court which stayed the eviction notice and asked the Thane civic body to first work out a rehabilitation scheme for the hutment dwellers. The Thane civic body later told the court that it was ready to rehabilitate only those persons whose hutments fall under its jurisdiction.

According to the TMC, some of the hutments fall under the jurisdiction of the state forest department and Central Railway.

The high court today directed the state government's forest department to clarify its stand by June 13 on rehabilitation of the dwellers.