Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai)

‘State planning to make 1L ppl in Dharavi ineligible for homes’

- Saurabha Kulshresht­ha htmumbai@hindustant­imes.com

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and state government of hatching a plan to declare over one lakh Dharavi residents as ineligible for homes and relocate them to saltpan areas of Vasai-virar and Mulund in order to profit Adani group.

Aaditya was speaking at a rally in Dharavi while campaignin­g for Anil Desai, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Mumbai South Central. He said those who live in the slums have their livelihood­s around the place and it would be injustice to relocate them to benefit Adani, who received the Dharavi Redevelopm­ent Project as a gift from the state government.

“To ensure huge profits to Adani over one lakh residents of Dharavi will be labelled as ineligible residents. Then they will be sent to the areas like Vasai-virar and Mulund,” said Aaditya. He also said that saltpan land will be used for rehabilita­tion and that would not be good for the environmen­t.

On March 31, Union Minister Piyush Goyal slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray for their “anti-developmen­t agenda”. He criticised them, claiming that they were attempting to oppose the right of every slumdwelle­r in Mumbai to “a better life”.

Earlier, Aaditya Thackeray had latched on to a comment that Goyal, the BJP’S candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat, had made in an interactio­n with a media house about pursuing a project to ensure his constituen­cy is slum-free.

The Dharavi Redevelopm­ent Project Pvt. Ltd. (DRPPL), a joint venture between the Government of Maharashtr­a and the Adani Group, categorica­lly refutes the allegation­s levelled by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray on Friday. “We would like to reiterate our commitment to turning Dharavi into a model of urban rejuvenati­on. All Dharavikar­s, whether eligible or not, will get new homes. They will be provided with key-to-key solutions, and will move into new homes directly instead of being housed in transit camps.” states the statement by DRPPL

AADITYA SAID THAT SALTPAN LAND WILL BE USED FOR RELOCATION AND IT IS NOT GOOD FOR ENVIRONMEN­T

 ?? ?? Aaditya Thackeray was speaking at a rally in Dharavi on Friday while campaignin­g for Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai.
Aaditya Thackeray was speaking at a rally in Dharavi on Friday while campaignin­g for Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai.

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