Dharavi redevelopment project, Adani become a rallying point for Opposition in Maharashtra

An aerial view of Dharavi. MVA has projected some decisions of the Mahayuti government as ‘favouring’ the Adani Group
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Ahead of the Assembly election in Maharashtra, industrialist Gautam Adani and the Dharavi redevelopment project in Asia’s largest slum cluster have become a rallying point for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

While the Congress has consistently called the project a ‘Modani enterprise’, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has held street protests and press events on the issue. The MVA allies have projected some recent decisions of the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government as ‘favouring’ the Adani Group and furthering the ‘Modani’ agenda.

In mid-September, the group secured a long-term contract to supply 6,600 MW of bundled renewable and thermal power to Maharashtra after its bid of ₹4.08 per unit outcompeted rivals. On September 30, the Cabinet approved the utilisation of 255 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai for housing for slum rehabilitation project-affected residents of Dharavi.

Earlier in September, the Centre had approved the transfer of the salt pan land to Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt. Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government.

“Is Adani the national saint now? Will everyone sing his paeans? When Modi says ‘one nation, one election’, he means ‘one nation, one contractor’. And that means his favourite contractor,” Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray recently said in Nagpur, a city that houses the RSS headquarters.

Elsewhere, he declared that his party will scrap the Dharavi project tender after coming to power. “The government should give an answer as to why it should not be scrapped now itself. We will not allow Mumbai to be turned into Adani city,” he had said.

Street protests

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has consistently claimed that the undue concessions were being given to Adani Group for the project. While it held a massive protest at Dharavi some time ago demanding in-situ rehabilitation of the project-affected people, the Congress had recently hit the streets at Bharatnagar in Bandra over the question of demolition of the slums there for the project.

The Congress has also accused Mr. Adani of taking over lucrative land parcels in the name of redevelopment. “Adani doesn’t love the people of Dharavi. He loves the land of Dharavi. He wants to make BKC [Bandra Kurla Complex] extension there,” party MP from Mumbai North Central Varsha Gaikwad had said recently, hinting at its conversion into a commercial hub.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh too had slammed the Maharashtra government over the salt pan land.

“These salt pans act as a sponge to absorb excess water during Mumbai’s abundant monsoons and insure against flooding. The long-term future of the city is being sacrificed at the altar of Modani’s never-ending greed. The redevelopment here is also contrary to the wishes of the Dharavikars who are pursuing in-situ relocation…,” he had tweeted.