"You will not be able to remove our Dharavikars": Aaditya Thackeray to Maharashtra govt
Aug 18, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 18 : Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday demanded assurance from the Maharashtra government that the new buildings constructed in Dharavi as part of Dharavi Redevelopment Project will be allocated to its residents.
He also added that the Maharashtra government will not be able to remove Dharavikars from here.
While addressing the 'Dharavi Bachao Andolan', Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "You will not be able to remove our Dharavikars from here, and therefore we all (MVA) have come here. I give you the assurance that no matter what the circumstance is we will not let them touch the Dharavikars. Redevelopment is needed but Dharavi's redevelopment is needed...We need this trust from the government that the buildings that will be built here will belong to Dharavikars."
Earlier in July, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had criticised the Dharavi redevelopment tender awarded to Gautam Adani, saying that his party won't let Mumbai lose its identity and change into 'Adani City'.
"During Manmohan Ji's government, Gift City was coming here, we welcomed it. Modi Ji took Gift City to Gujarat. Now giving Gift City to Gujarat and Adani City to Maharashtra, we will not let this happen. The identity that Mumbai has will remain in Mumbai, we will not let it change into Adani City," he said.
Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRPPL), a joint venture between the Adani Group and the Government of Maharashtra, announced that eligible residential tenements in Dharavi will get flats with independent kitchens and toilets measuring a minimum 350 square feet (sq ft), which is a whopping 17 per cent more and the highest among slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai.
Earlier, dwellers of informal settlements in Maharashtra were given houses measuring 269 sq ft. Since 2018, the state government has started giving them homes measuring between 315 sq ft and 322 sq ft, in line with the minimum area mandated under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for houses for the urban poor.
