‘Dharavi project talks a poll gimmick’

The chief minister may have given his final nod to float global tenders for Dharavi redevelopment, but slum dwellers are not too pleased. They say it is a gimmick to woo voters as the announcement has come just a year ahead of the scheduled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections in 2017.

Some 13 years ago, the then Congress-NCP government had given the go-ahead for redevelopment of Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum cluster. So slum dwellers are not too sure if the redevelopment will finally happen this time.

“We are being manipulated and misguided by various political parties since long,” said Janardhan Tawde, president of Dharavi Bachao Andolan (DBA).

“We were first promised 300 sq. ft carpet area by the Congress-NCP government, after which we were told by the Opposition parties that we should protest and demand 400 sq ft carpet area. We wasted a lot of our time on this. Currently, the government has declared that it will require about 55,000 units for eligible slum dwellers in Dharavi. But on what basis are they claiming this Mr Tawde asked.

He further said, “Between 2004 and 2007, the then state government had appointed Mukesh Mehta as project management consultant (PMC) with a consultancy fee of one per cent of the total estimated cost of the project, which was Rs 6,000 crore back then. Following this, they carried a survey. Also, a geographical information system survey was carried out in 2007. Where is all this now Where is the roadmap to conduct a survey now Without knowing the exact updated number of residential or commercial tenants how can one float tenders No agency will bid for the global tenders without having information on the updated number of slum-dwellers.”

Explaining that the announcement was a poll gimmick, Anil Kasare, secretary of DBA, said, “There are six BMC wards in Dharavi from ward number 175 to ward number 180. The political dynamics is that two wards have corporators from the Congress, one from Shiv Sena, one from Republican Party of India, one from Samajwadi Party and one independent. This whole purpose is to have an upper hand in the upcoming BMC elections by trying to create vote banks and win these seats. There is no roadmap yet that we can dream of redevelopment.”

The state government has divided the 557 acres plot into five sectors for redevelopment. Out of these, five are with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for redevelopment. The state government has now decided that every slum dweller will be eligible for a 350 sq ft houses. However, two brothers Zahiruddin Khan and Abdul Khan, both own a shop (gala), one measuring 1,000 sq ft and another 2,000 sq ft in sector 4 of Dharavi. “We will never agree for 350 sq ft or 400 sq ft. We are equal stakeholders. The state government should consider talking to us before announcing floating of global tenders,” he said.