MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has initiated an investigation led by the deputy collector (Encroachments) following allegations that demolished huts are being rebuilt and that new occupants are being declared eligible for free housing under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP).
Activist Baburao Mane, a founder-member of Manohar Joshi College, informed the SRA that occupants have moved back into partially demolished huts, some of which don’t appear on survey maps. He pointed out instances where structures, including a temple labeled as a hut and a staircase recently fitted with a door, are being falsely classified as eligible for free housing. Mane alleged that these actions are occurring in collusion with DRP officials in Shatabdi Nagar, adjacent to the college.
Shatabdi Nagar originally housed around 800 huts near the Loop Road in Dharavi. “Nearly a decade ago, Mhada was assigned to redevelop Sector Five of Dharavi and conducted a survey to assess free housing eligibility. Approximately 800 huts were identified, leading to the relocation of over 300 families into Mhada’s rehab towers. However, Mhada failed to fully demolish vacated huts, which allowed new families to move in with makeshift roofs made from plastic or fiber sheets. Subsequently, the government decided to hand the entire Dharavi area over to Adani Realty for redevelopment,” explained Mane.
In October of last year, Mane received complaints from local residents stating that while they were eligible for tenements, new occupants were being granted access to Mhada’s towers. Mane, with the aid of residents, analyzed Mhada’s eligibility list alongside a new one from DRP. “Mhada assigned numbers to each hut, which we discovered have now been duplicated with an ‘A’ added. For example, hut 664 is now labeled as 664A. After reviewing this new list, we found that recently moved individuals were being declared eligible, prompting me to file a formal complaint with SRA in December. Such discrepancies couldn’t occur without the collusion of DRP officials,” Mane asserted, claiming that although the SRA has promised an investigation, progress has been slow.
In response, DRP Secretary Vipin Paliwal stated that the inquiry is ongoing. “Surveys were conducted by Mhada and other agencies; it is a complex matter we are investigating, and we will publish a report,” he confirmed, though he declined to provide a timeline.
A representative from Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd, a partnership between the Maharashtra government and the Adani Group for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, clarified: “NMDPL has not been involved with the Shatabdi Nagar residents’ shift to Mhada transit buildings. All survey work happened prior to our engagement with the Dharavi contract, and the allotment of transit homes relies on the legacy survey.”
