Mumbai:The Maharashtra government on Tuesday gave nod to the revised terms and conditions for an 8.5 hectare plot of Mother Dairy meant to be used for rehabilitating ineligible slum dwellers under which amenities like school, hospital, shopping complex will be built there. The approval was given at a state cabinet meeting here.
In June last year, the state government issued a Government Resolution (GR) under which the plot in suburban Kurla was handed over to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) for rehabilitating slum-dwellers of Dharavi under redevelopment plan of India's largest slum cluster.
A statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said under the ambitious Dharavi redevelopment project, 8.5 lakh families have to be rehabilitated. Of these 8.5 lakh families, five lakh are eligible to be rehabilitated in Dharavi itself. There is a need for additional land to rehabilitate additional 3.5 lakh families.
One of the land parcels for rehabilitating these 3.5 lakh families is Kurla's Mother Dairy project, it said.
"For this, the policy of home of all (ineligible families) is being followed. They will not only get a house, but also other amenities like school, hospital and shopping complex," the statement said.
City Congress president and Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad, whose constituency covers Dharavi, slammed the BJP-led Mahayuti government and alleged conspiracy behind the redevelopment project to benefit "one person".
She noted Dharavi residents have been demanding houses in the sprawling slum colony itself in the heart of Mumbai, and alleged state and central government land parcels are being given for the project at cheaper prices.
Gaikwad asserted the move to use the Mother Dairy land is being opposed by local residents also and claimed over 1,000 trees will be cut for the project.
The opposition Congress and its ally Shiv Sena (UBT) have been opposing the move to rehabilitate Dharavi residents out of the slum cluster.
The multi-billion Dharavi redevelopment project is being executed by the Adani group.
Kurla MLA Mangesh Kudalkar of the Shiv Sena, a ruling coalition partner, too, had opposed the move when the state government issued the GR in June last year.
Kudalkar said he had been demanding a botanical garden, a civic hospital and sports complex at the Mother Dairy site rather than using the land for rehabilitation of Dharavi residents. The legislator had said the site has some 700-800 trees which should not be cut.
Mother Dairy, commissioned in 1974, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), declared an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament.
The Kurla MLA told PTI that he had raised the issue with then-chief minister and incumbent deputy CM Eknath Shinde who had assured a hospital and a botanical garden will be built at the site.
In another decision, the cabinet approved extending toll waiver at five entry points in Mumbai till September 17, 2029. The toll waiver decision had come into force from October 14, 2024, days before the state assembly polls.
The state government had formed a panel headed by the chief secretary to recommend ways to offset the losses suffered by MEP Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, which manages the entry points in lieu of maintaining 27 flyovers and related works in Mumbai. The contract with the company, which commenced on October 19, 2010, is scheduled to end on November 18, 2026.
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