MUMBAI, May 9 -- The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the state government to set up an expert committee within four weeks to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance & Redevelopment) Act, 1971, after raising concerns about the "abysmal progress of the ideals of town planning expected of an international city like Mumbai, when large areas are still slums". A division bench of Justice G S Kulkarni and Justice Advait Sethna said there was a need for an area-wise and phase-wise systematic and scientific approach to clear the city of slums. "While the task is Herculean, it is not impossible, provided there is committed determination and willingness by the authorities to achieve public good," it said. ".Town planning which does not sail with the tide of time is questionable. The official machinery. has failed to fulfil the dream of the year 1971 to convert the city into a slum-free city." The court passed the judgment in a suo motu petition pursuant to the Supreme Court's July 2024 order, in which it had directed the Bombay high court to conduct such a review "to ensure that a law is working out in practice as it was intended". "If not, understand the reason and address it quickly," the apex court bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Aravind Kumar had said, while pointing out that 1,612 cases under the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act were still pending before the Bombay High Court, out of which 135 were over 10 years old. According to the latest BMC data, approximately 875.97 acres of both private and public land in the city is occupied by slums. According to the SRA website, the total number of persons currently living in slums is around 12 million. The Bombay High Court clarified that the expert committee it had directed the government to set up should consist of senior urban development bureaucrats, a representative from the directorate of town planning, independent architects, and public representatives with specialised knowledge in town planning. "It is now for the state's executive to demonstrate robust and genuine willingness to work towards the public good." it said, adding that the expectations and rights of Mumbai's citizens "need to assume the highest importance". Noting the "alarming" variety of disputes arising from the implementation of the slum scheme, the court also highlighted the lack of a policy to protect lands from encroachments, stating that no deterrent measures had been implemented for this. "Considering that in a city like Mumbai. public land is extremely scarce, it must be safeguarded rather than siphoned off in such a manner," it remarked. The court added that "patronage" by the official machinery and public representatives could not overlook the basic tenet of the Constitution against such "coerced utilisation of public land" for the benefit of encroachers and private development. "A robust mechanism must be instituted to take strict action against officials who are guilty of dereliction of duty in safeguarding public lands," it said....