Mumbai: Kurla residents petition PM to save Mother Dairy land

Residents raised banners against the survey of the Kurla Mother Dairy on July 26. File Pic/Aditi Haralkar

Fed up with no movement, residents from Nehru Nagar Kurla have now written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with 10,000 signatures against rehabilitating Dharavi dwellers in the old and defunct Mother Dairy land, which they want to be saved as an open green space.

The 10.4-hectare piece of land earlier used by the government milk dairy at Nehru Nagar Kurla has been lying unused after the dairy shut down nearly a decade ago. The land is placed strategically, sandwiched along the Santacruz Chembur Link Road, LTT Kurla Terminus, Mumbai Metro Yellow Line 2B, and the Harbour line of Mumbai Suburban Railway.

Sources said the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was initially looking to monetise land to finance infra projects by building a mixed-use mini-BKC development plan of residential and commercial development at the site, but later switched the land use to rehabilitate Dharavi rehabilitation dwellers.

The old Kurla Mother Dairy Plot

"The plot has about 800-900 trees and Kurla East is now getting crowded with a lack of green spaces. Our petition is only to save this open and green space," said a petitioner. Our efforts at the local level have failed despite support from the local MLA. We have now gathered 10,000 signatures and submitted a petition to the Prime Minister's Office in the name of Lok Chalwal last week. We expect some action," said another petitioner.

The letter, a copy of which is with mid-day, stated, "We respectfully request that the Mother Dairy land in Kurla East be reserved for the development of a garden. This proposal is supported by more than 10,000 signatures from local residents. Urban amenity standards, such as open space per capita, are far below acceptable levels in Kurla East.

"We sincerely hope that you will consider our request and take swift action to allocate the Mother Dairy land for the establishment of a garden, which will provide a much-needed green space for the people of Kurla," the letter stated. "We have been creating continuous awareness about this. The latest trigger was that the notices were slapped by the state government to government residential quarters located inside the Mother Dairy plot to vacate the plot for Dharavi rehabilitation," the letter read.

Local MLA Mangesh Kudalkar said he had been striving to get a botanical garden built on the plot and had earlier met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde about it who was positive about the issue followed by meetings with the Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to apprise him about the issue. Mumbai North East MP Varsha Gaikwad said the plot is to swallow the land of the entire Mumbai and we shall foil the bid.

Phone calls and messages to Dharavi Rehabilitation Project (DRP) remained unanswered till the time of going to the press. As per the official status, the Kurla dairy plot has not been reserved for any recreational/playground purpose as per the latest available (2018) civic Development Plan of the city. The land has been transferred from the dairy development department to the revenue department. The Mumbai suburban district collector is yet to earmark the land for Dharavi Rehabilitation Project (DRP).