The Slum Rehabilitation Authority has freed four lakh square metress of land, which was earlier encroached, for gardens, playgrounds and markets.

Under the slum rehabilitation scheme, 33 per cent of the encroached land, which was originally reserved for public amenities, has to be developed by the builder concerned solely for gardens et al.

The remaining 67 per cent of the plot is utilised by the builder to rehouse the encroachers free of cost in new 225 sq ft tenements and construct another building for sale in the open market.

SRA chief Ujjwal Uke said in a press note that in a short span of time the authority has cleared four lakh sq mtrs of land and returned it to the citizens to “enjoy as open spaces''. The SRA also claimed that it has been able to clear spaces for municipal schools, which will be able to accommodate over 20,000 students.

The authority said 1.96 lakh sq mtrs has been freed for gardens, 96,040 sq mtrs for playgrounds, 86,220 sq mtrs for roads, 28,920 sq mtrs for setback areas for roads etc and another 6,390 sq mtrs for markets.

It is learnt that since January 1998, the SRA has approved 67 slum rehabilitation schemes on encroached land reserved under the development plan for recreation grounds, playgrounds, gardens, roads, markets, schools and welfare centres.

One such slum scheme has been declared on land reserved for the expansion of the Veermata Jijamata Udyan, Byculla, which houses the zoo. The land spread over almost 23,000 sq ft would have substantially added to the 48-acre lush green belt.

However, since the plot was virtually taken over by encroachers, the zoo will now get only 7,564 sq ft to add to its existing area. According to the SRA,another seven slum proposals on public land are pending approval.

“Due to the implementation of the slum scheme, these spaces have been cleared and 33 per cent of the reservation area has been made available to the general public,'' it said. Most slums in the city are on plots reserved for public purposes.

However, public-spirited citizens and NGOs like Citispace have challenged in the Bombay high court the SRA's policy of rewarding encroachers by giving them new houses and that too free of cost.

Their contention is that the entire land meant for public amenities should come back to citizens instead of just 33 per cent. A few months ago, the court passed an interim order, directing the SRA to obtain the court's permission before sanctioning any new slum rehabilitation scheme on spaces reserved for gardens, parks and playgrounds.

The petition filed by Citispace opposed the SRA for utilising open spaces in the city for slum rehabilitation. Guidelines framed by the SRA allows the authority to declare a slum scheme on any open space measuring 1,001 sq mtrs or more which is occupied by hutments.