by THO
MUMBAI: Residents of Dharavi mounted a protest and shouted slogans on Monday evening, raising concerns about the ongoing survey ahead of the proposed redevelopment of the slum, and also making demands relating to residential and commercial spaces.
At a public meeting under the Dharavi Bachao Andolan, around 100 residents of the sprawling slum, being redeveloped by the Adani Group-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL), assembled at Dharavi main road in Mahim East.
They demanded to see the master plan of the Dharavi redevelopment project, 500-sq ft homes and a shop in exchange for shops, land in lieu of commercial shops, and that Kumbharwada, the pottery quarter in the slum, be rehabilitated within the redeveloped Dharavi.
The residents also protested the on-going survey. “The survey is being conducted by privately employed people who are not accompanied by government servants. They are numbering our homes and we don’t know what they are recording and whether they are even doing it correctly. There is a lot of uncertainty,” said Abdul Khan, a worried resident of Dharavi.
Another demand includes housing and commercial spaces within Dharavi itself. “Last week, the residents of Kumbharwada were taken in two large buses to Kurla Mother Dairy, where they will be relocated. But we don’t want to go anywhere. We need a few acres in Dharavi, which will include our residential area and commercial establishments,” said Ulvesh Gajakosh, coordinator of the Dharavi Bachao Andolan.
“Dharavi is a hub of small-scale industries and everyone should get their due. A private developer cannot erase an essential part of this city,” said Gajakosh, the people attending the rally echoing the demands.
Further, the demands include officially constructed chawls by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and that areas which fall under the estate department of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) get a 750-sq ft house.
An official associated with the redevelopment project said, “All ground-floor commercial tenements on and before January 1, 2000, are entitled to rehabilitation within the Dharavi Notified Area (DNA). Tenements with existing areas up to 250 sq ft will receive actual area subject to a maximum area up to 225 sq ft. Tenements above 250 sq ft area will receive 225 sq ft free of cost. They would receive areas above 250 sq ft at the cost of construction as determined by the Government of Maharashtra.”
