The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has approved the temporary allotment of 15 acres of land within the Mulund dumping ground to support the ongoing Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). The land will be used for setting up a ready-mix concrete (RMC) plant, a casting yard and a precast component manufacturing facility required for the large-scale redevelopment initiative.
According to the proposal recently approved by the civic body, Adani Navbharat Developers Private Limited, which is implementing the Dharavi redevelopment project, will pay Rs 98.46 crore as lease rent for a period of five years. The agreement also requires the company to pay an advance lease amount of Rs 9.17 crore, along with 18% GST amounting to Rs 1.65 crore, immediately after the lease is executed.
The proposal states that the Dharavi redevelopment project is one of the Maharashtra government’s highest-priority infrastructure initiatives. To facilitate timely execution, the developer had sought around 15 acres at the Mulund dumping ground to establish construction support infrastructure.
Under the state’s rehabilitation policy, eligible Dharavi residents owning ground-floor structures built before January 1, 2000, will receive free homes within the redevelopment project. Residents not qualifying for in-situ rehabilitation will be offered subsidised housing in locations including Kurla, Bhandup, Mulund, Madh and Deonar.
Commenting on the project, Vipin Paliwal, Secretary, Dharavi Redevelopment Project, said the redevelopment aims to provide “better homes and a better quality of life for over 10 lakh people living in Dharavi”.
“The state government has been identifying and allocating land required for its implementation, with various government agencies working together to support the effort. The land identified at the Mulund dumping ground will be made available to DRP by the BMC temporarily, for use as a casting yard,” Paliwal said.
The BMC proposal also noted that biomining is currently underway at the Mulund dumping ground. While parts of the site have already been reclaimed, the proposed lease area still contains 2.5 to 3 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste, which must be processed before construction activities can begin.
Reacting to the decision, Congress leader and Mulund resident Charansingh Sapra said, “The double engine government is giving almost the entire Mumbai to Adanis. This is organised loot and legalised plunder. In a way, the government and Adanis are jointly becoming Mumbai’s land mafias.”
Source: Hindustan Times
