FCC

If SRA transit rent is unpaid, act within 30 days

2023-09-01

On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court ordered newly constituted Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) nodal officials to act swiftly and within 30 days in the event of complaints regarding the non- payment of transit rent to qualified individuals or slum inhabitants while rehabilitation is underway.

Justice Arif Doctor and Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya also ordered SRA to provide information on the steps taken in response to unpaid transit rent. The SRA must also state how many complaints the nodal officials received and how many have been resolved, they continued.

Vijendra Rai, a lawyer, presented the court with two PILs from 2019 that focused on the nonpayment of transit rent to qualified individuals and slum dwellers. Rai mostly discussed Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd.'s 17 projects.

On July 19, HC ordered SRA to appoint a nodal officer and solicit slum-dwellers' representations and grievances. On August 7, SRA informed HC that Mumbai had appointed nodal officials.

A slum resident's attorney, Inamul Khan, said that the SRA takes a year to resolve complaints.