PTI
 
Mumbai, Apr 15: In the midst of the migrants' issue being raked up by certain political parties in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said people from across the country are welcome to live in Mumbai but should not construct illegal encroachments which deprive citizens of public amenities.

"We cannot stop migrants from coming to the state but anti-encroachment restrictions can be imposed upon them," he said.

Deshmukh also asked civic authorities to take strict measures against structures illegally constructed.

"Migrants cannot misuse the city's infrastructure, which is meant for taxpayers because the city's infrastructure is heavily burdened," Deshmukh said.

The Chief Minister said the Maharashtra Government was trying to solve the problem of migration, and the subsequent congestion caused by it. The government's housing projects for low income group, which would provide houses on rent for the poor, may solve the problem of increasing slums in the metropolis, he said.

The CM was attending a function to lay the foundation stone for second phase of the BRIMSTOWAD project in suburban Chembur yesterday. The project will augment the city's 150-year-old drainage system and has been fully funded by the Centre under its JNNURM scheme.

"There will be no water logging in case of 50 mm rainfall. But we cannot predict much about an unprecedented rainfall like 900 mm (as witnessed in July 2005)," Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh said various projects being undertaken by the government like the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and Metro Rail Project would change the face of the city over the next three to four years.