Mumbai: Old Mulund vs New Dharavi

Residents have been going to people’s doors entreating members to be part of the protest

Residents of Mulund - apprehensive of their neighbourhood becoming a "new Dharavi" - have launched a door-to-door campaign, visiting housing societies to raise awareness and garner support against the government's plan to resettle some of Dharavi's residents and project-affected people (PAPs) on a BMC-owned plot in the suburb.

The BMC is yet to finalise its decision to hand over the land parcel in Mulund East.

On January 10, the state housing department wrote to civic authorities asking to hand over 64 acres of land located in Mulund East to the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority (DRA). The DRA will develop a rental housing colony for around 3-4 lakh residents of Dharavi who are not eligible for redevelopment. A total of 18 acres of land comes under the Octroi Naka while the remainder is part of the dumping ground which is now closed. The decision was first taken in the state cabinet in 2022.

The residents of Ashford Royale at the meeting in the society premises on Sunday

In the letter, the state housing department mentions that in accordance with government resolutions from 2018 and 2022, residents ineligible for the Development Plan Reservation will receive residential units under the state government's affordable and rental housing scheme. "The construction of buildings for PAPs necessitates two distinct land parcels owned by the BMC in Mulund, measuring 46 acres and 18 acres, respectively," the letter states.

Despite ongoing deliberations regarding logistics and expenses, Mulund residents strongly resist the proposal. Talking to mid-day, Advocate Sagar Devre said that the residents will be consulting with town planners and other experts to prove that the government's decision is an unplanned and haphazard move.

Devre said, "In the first week of February, we protested against the rehabilitation of the state government and BMC projects by forming human chains. Now, we are holding meetings in every society and explaining the problem. Although both rehabilitation projects were proposed in Mulund East, these projects can have an overall impact as Mulund's population will suddenly rise. So we are also holding meetings at housing societies in Mulund West. A meeting was held in the Ashford Royale society on Sunday morning, with a large number of residents attending."

According to Devre, members of the group have been having regular meetings with these societies. "Now we are focusing on door-to-door visits to garner support, after which we will decide on the further course of action."

Anil Mankar, a resident of Hari Om Nagar in Mulund East, said, "We have also started individually meeting citizens in our area, as the rehabilitation of Dharavi residents is proposed in our neighbourhood. We are appealing to people to participate in this movement. We are trying to intensify this campaign and reach out to every household."

The BMC has proposed a PAP colony in Mulund East for those affected by various development and redevelopment projects across the city. As part of this project, the civic body will be developing nearly 8,000 houses for PAPs of civic infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, a senior official from BMC told mid-day that authorities are yet to finalise the proposal to hand over the land to the DRA. "The civic body will be discussing this with the state government before preparing a formal project proposal," the official said.

64 acres
Land to be used for the projects