Partition refugees in Maharashtra finally get to own their homes

Mumbai, April 25

Nearly 71 years after they were resettled in different parts of Maharashtra, Partition refugees from West Pakistan will finally get to own their homes.
Following a Cabinet decision on Tuesday, the Maharashtra government has decided to transfer ownership of the plots on which homes of refugees stand to the occupants. In all, residents of 31 colonies across Maharashtra, including Ulhasnagar, Chembur Colony, Sion Koliwada, Mulund, Kurla and other places, will stand to benefit from the government move.
The residents of these colonies largely hail from Sind and Punjab. Following partition, those fleeing to India were housed in ‘refugee camps’ which were meant to be temporary in nature. However, over the decades, the occupants put down roots in these places and were finding it difficult to sell, mortgage or redevelop their homes.
“Those wanting to sell their homes in these refugee camps are required to share 50 per cent of the profits with the state government since the land is owned by the collector,” explains a state government source.
Following the decision taken by the state government, the land on which the refugees’ homes and business establishments stand will be classified as ‘freehold’ land. This is expected to help occupants of properties to sell or even redevelop their homes without much hassles.
Apart from Mumbai these clusters, known as Sindhi colonies since most of the occupants originally belonged to Sind in Pakistan, exist in Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Yavatmal, Akola and Amravati.

State government sources say, other states had long ago designated the land on which the refugees are housed as free-hold properties which allowed occupants to transfer them without much hassles.
In Maharashtra, the transfer of properties to the partition refugees and their descendents is expected to be completed within six months if all the documents are in order, according to officials.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters that the government took this decision as most of the properties occupied by Partition refugees were in poor shape and could not be redeveloped due to the restrictions. Many of these buildings have been declared dangerous for habitation.