Sharad Pawar won't allow Mumbai's destruction for Dharavi redevelopment: Uddhav Thackeray

Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray File pic/Satej Shinde

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena-UBT president Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will not allow Mumbai to be destroyed. Thackeray was alluding to the Adani Group's Dharavi redevelopment project. Thackeray's comments come after Pawar's recent discussions with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, during which the Dharavi reconstruction project was addressed, reported PTI.

"My stand is clear. Adani is not my enemy, but if anyone comes to destroy Mumbai, I will not allow it and I don't think Pawar will allow anyone to destroy Mumbai," Thackeray remarked per the news agency report.

According to the report, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has opposed the Dharavi rehabilitation project, claiming that it would relocate residents of Asia's largest slum to numerous areas throughout Mumbai.

"We demand that residents of Dharavi be given homes in Dharavi itself. Also, each home in Dharavi has a small enterprise or a business. The redevelopment project should also address these needs," Thackeray said per the news agency.

According to the news agency report, the former Chief Minister claimed that the Adani Group plans to relocate Dharavi inhabitants to several locations in Mumbai, including the salt plains on the eastern outskirts and the Kurla Mother Dairy site.

"But if you want to create 20 Dharavis in Mumbai, we will not let that happen. We will not allow the creation of 20 Dharavis from one Dharavi in Mumbai," Thackeray said.

He proposed that if the Adani Group needed to build transit camps, they might do so on land parcels at Bandra Reclamation and the airport that had been allocated to them, the report added.

Earlier in the day, Uddhav Thackeray had interacted with the press and spoke about the Bangladesh political crisis. He said that the ouster of Sheikh Hasina was a message to leaders across the world that the public is supreme and those who are in power should not test their patience.

Thackeray, while speaking to the reporters in Delhi, dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to save Hindus who were the target of atrocities in Bangladesh.

"There is only one message ... The people are supreme and no politician should test their patience. If you do, then what a people's court can do was seen in Bangladesh. People's court is supreme. The people's court has given a ruling in Bangladesh," Thackeray said.

With PTI inputs