Congress, Shiv Sena jump in to oppose handing over of Kurla Dairy land for Dharavi redevelopment

On Thursday, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad and the Shiv Sena MLA from Kurla, Mangesh Kudalkar, joined ranks with the Shiv Sena (UBT) to oppose the proposal

Mumbai: A day after this newspaper broke the news of the Dairy Development Department’s proposal to hand over 21 acres of Kurla Dairy to Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL), the Congress and an MLA from the ruling Shiv Sena have opposed it saying they will not allow the handing over of the extra land.

Residents of Nehru Nagar Kurla stage the protest against the state government's decision to hand over 8.5 hectares of Kurla Dairyland to Adani`s Dharavi Redevelopment project. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The 21 acres are likely to be used to rehabilitate those slumdwellers from Dharavi who are not eligible for free housing under the Dharavi redevelopment plan, a joint venture between the Maharashtra government and the Adani group. As previously reported, the government has so far allocated plots at Mulund, Wadala, Kanjurmarg and Bhandup to house these ineligible slumdwellers. The Kurla Dairy plot will be given to Adani at a price that is 25 per cent lower than the ready reckoner rate.

On Thursday, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad and the Shiv Sena MLA from Kurla, Mangesh Kudalkar, joined ranks with the Shiv Sena (UBT) to oppose the proposal.

“The relentless land grab in Mumbai knows no bound and the Eknath Shinde government is willing to do anything to assist this loot. First, they caused chaos with the Dharavi tender and committed the biggest real estate scam in history at the cost of the rights of Dharavikars. Then, under the garb of rehabilitation of Dharavi residents, they tried to usurp ecologically sensitive salt pan lands, BMC lands previously used for the octroi naka and the dumping ground at Mulund,” posted Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad on X.

The Kurla dairy land, she added belonged to the common Mumbaikar and “is not a private property of those in power for it to be ‘gifted’ arbitrarily” to the Gautam Adani-led DRPPL.

Gaikwad, until recently the Dharavi MLA, added that right from the start, the Congress has been clear that all Dharavi residents should be given in situ rehabilitation in Dharavi itself. “All this talk of eligible and ineligible is just a ruse to displace people and we reject it.” The Shiv Sena (UBT) too has been opposing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project in its present format. Anil Desai, the newly-elected Shiv Sena (UBT) MP from Mumbai South Central, said: “Kurla Dairy is a completely different parcel of land. I cannot understand why Dharavi people are being displaced. There is ample land in Dharavi to accommodate everyone, why then are adjacent lands being chosen? The developers of Dharavi want the place because of its proximity to prime real estate of BKC.”

Mangesh Kudalkar, the Kurla MLA from the ruling Shiv Sena opposed the handing over of the land to DRPPL for an altogether different reason: “The dairy on the plot may have closed down, but it has 900 trees which are over 50 years old. These are lungs of Kurla. I wanted the government to develop a botanical garden there along with an eco-friendly sports complex. When I had first discussed this with the chief minister, he had responded positively to my idea. I was not even taken into confidence about the decision to hand over the land for the Dharavi project. I am a resident of Nehru Nagar myself and we are organizing a protest. I have played here on this plot as a child, and will be saddened to see the trees go.”

These trees have maintained the ecological balance in the area, but now the government wants to mercilessly hack these trees and destroy the habitats and environment here, added Varsha Gaikwad.

Mumbai had three dairies: Aarey, Kurla and Worli but where milk production was stopped over the years. All of these dairies are on verdant land which are now been hacked away for other projects. Aarey was the first to lose land for the metro car-shed and a burial ground. The Worli Dairy is being eyed to develop a convention centre while 21 acres of the Kurla Dairy plot will be handed over to DRPPL. An additional 2.5 acres have already been given to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for construction of a viaduct and the station for Metro 2B.

Gaikwad added that the dairy development minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had virtually gifted this green land to Adani-led DRPPL. “This government doesn’t care about people or environment; the only colour it can see is the colour of money,” she added.

A spokesperson for DRPPL refused to comment while the DRP officer on special duty, S V R Srinivas, did not respond to requests for comment.