Mumbai: The Maharashtra government’s dairy development department has cleared the handing over of a 21-acre plot of the Kurla dairy to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
The plot can be used to rehabilitate slum dwellers who were ineligible for free accommodation under the Dharavi project, which is a joint venture between the Maharashtra government and the Adani Group. The government has already allotted plots for housing ineligible slum dwellers at Mulund, Kanjurmarg, Bhandup and Wadala.
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The government dairy at Nehru Nagar, Kurla, shut down nearly a decade ago. Currently, the plot houses the dairy, staff quarters, a cold storage plant, and the main administrative office, among other things.
The state government will have to provide alternate accommodation to people living in the staff quarters. The government had earlier given up nearly 2.5 acres of the Kurla dairy land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for constructing a viaduct and a station for Metro line 2B.
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The Government Resolution (GR) issued on June 10 by the dairy development department describes the Dharavi redevelopment project as vital and of public importance. It will be given at a 25% lower price than the ready reckoner rate for the rehabilitation of Dharavi slum dwellers.
“This proposal was mooted by my department and cleared by the state cabinet. We issued the GR on June 10. The land is given to a company by Adani-led DRPPL (Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd) and the state government, and not to an individual,” said dairy development minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil. VR Srinivas, the chief executive officer of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, did not respond to calls, while the company’s spokesperson did not comment on the matter.
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DRPPL has announced that eligible residential tenements in Dharavi will get flats with independent kitchens and toilets measuring a minimum 350 sq ft, which is 17% 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 started giving them homes measuring 315-322 sq ft, in line with the minimum area mandated under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for houses for the urban poor.
Eligible residential tenements are those that were in existence before 1 January, 2000. Each flat will have a separate kitchen and an in-built independent toilet. It will be well-lit, ventilated, and hygienic, besides being secure.
