'State final authority on mill structure decision'

The Bombay High Court said that the state government was the final authority to decide whether structures on the mill lands fall under heritage category or not.

The court allowed the demolition of structures on the three mills to be handed over to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

The court gave the government five months to decide whether the structures on these mill lands fall under the heritage category.

The ruling was given by a division bench comprising of Justice Hemant Gokhale and Justice S R Dongaonkar. The three mills to be handed over the civic authorities for developing public amenities and low cost housing are India United Mills 2 and 3 and the New Hind Mill.

On 17 other mills which were identified by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) as mills with the heritage structures, the court directed MCGM to invite suggestions and objections from citizens.

Subsequently, the state government has to decide whether these structures fall under heritage category or not. The state will have two months after the MCGM submits its report.

The 17 mills include Dawn, Gokuldas Morarji, Shriram, Piramal, Century, Prakash, Victoria, Phoenix, Khatau, New Great Eastern, Mafatlal, Standard, Shrinivas, Swadesh and Mukesh and Maharshtra State Textile Corporation's Western India Mills.

The court gave the ruling while disposing off the petition filed by the Indian National Trust for Art, Heritage and Culture (INTACH) which demanded that heritage structures on the premises of mills should be protected.

Acting upon the INTACH's petition, the High Court had directed the Mumbai Heritage Committee to submit a report on the heritage structures on private and NTC mill lands. The heritage structures in these mills include structures like chimneys, water bodies, time keepers' offices and clock towers.