Mumbai: Old Mulund vs New Dharavi

Residents of Mulundmdashapprehensive of their neighbourhood becoming a ldquonew Dharavirdquomdashhave launched a doortodoor campaign visiting housing societies to raise awareness and garner support against the governmentrsquos plan to resettle some of Dharavirsquos residents and projectaffected people PAPs on a BMCowned plot in the suburbThe BMC is yet to finalise its decision to hand over the land parcel in Mulund EastOn 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 34 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 2022The residents of Ashford Royale at the meeting in the society premises on SundayIn 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 governmentrsquos affordable and rental housing scheme ldquoThe construction of buildings for PAPs necessitates two distinct land parcels owned by the BMC in Mulund measuring 46 acres and 18 acres respectivelyrdquo the letter statesDespite ongoing deliberations regarding logistics and expenses Mulund residents strongly resist the proposal Talking to midday Advocate Sagar Devre said that the residents will be consulting with town planners and other experts to prove that the governmentrsquos decision is an unplanned and haphazard moveDevre said ldquoIn 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 Mulundrsquos 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 attendingrdquoAccording to Devre members of the group have been having regular meetings with these societies ldquoNow we are focusing on doortodoor visits to garner support after which we will decide on the further course of actionrdquoAnil Mankar a resident of Hari Om Nagar in Mulund East said ldquoWe 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 householdrdquoThe 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 8000 houses for PAPs of civic infrastructure projectsMeanwhile a senior official from BMC told midday that authorities are yet to finalise the proposal to hand over the land to the DRA ldquoThe civic body will be discussing this with the state government before preparing a formal project proposalrdquo the official said64 acresLand to be used for the projects