There are several laws -- BMC Act, Bombay Police Act, MRTP Act, MAHADA Act, Indian Railways Act, Slum Act, Representation of Peoples Act, etc.
Raj Thakeray could have worked towards having the laws of the land enforced, without any compromise to clean up Mumbai rather than allow it to go to seed.
Instead successive governments have turned a blind eye to violations of "outsiders" as they encroached our footpaths and other open spaces, stolen our water and electricity, hawked on roadsand pavements and (with the support of corporators and politicians and "public servants") acquired ration cards and voting cards.
Why not invoke the provision of theConstitution that says that although a citizen can move and settle in any part of the country, it has to be within the ambit of the law.
To curb the unregulated influx to our cities it is absolutely imperative to invoke the anti-encroachment (and other related) laws.
Our "leaders" -- rather than giving inflammatory speeches to their 'vote-banks' and unleashing violence on the streets, damaging property (both public and private) causing harm to innocent people in addition to their intended targets -- must first see the laws and policies in place; work to improve them, if necessary -- as Mr JRD Tata had suggested -- and should invoke and implement them in all honesty and sincerity.
That's the only way the influx will gradually get curbed.
