The Maharashtra government has approved the leasing of 255.9 acres of saltpan land from the centre on Monday, September 30. The land will be used to house people ineligible for homes under the Dharavi redevelopment project.
The state had earlier requested the Centre to lease land parcels on saltpans in Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, and Mulund for the rehabilitation. On September 2, the Centre approved the transfer. However, environmentalists and local Dharavi residents protested the decision. They called it an "ecologically disastrous" choice.
Tenants whose homes were constructed before January 1, 2000, and those on the ground floor were allowed to purchase homes in Dharavi. Those who don’t qualify will be given rental housing in other parts of Mumbai.
The state government and the Adani Group formed a special purpose vehicle called Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL). DRPPL will oversee the rehabilitation on the acquired land. The company will also handle the relocation of saltpan workers from the land.
On September 18, Valsa Nair Singh, additional chief secretary of the state housing department, sent a letter to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The letter urged the ministry to speed up the transfer of 255.9 acres of salt-pan land.
Environmentalists have criticised the transfer, saying that it can cause severe flooding like the one on July 26, 2005. That cloudburst led to 944 mm of rain in a single day, resulting in over 1,000 deaths. Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are also opposing it. Both criticised the state’s move to lease the environmentally sensitive land.
Salt pans are low-lying areas that absorb rainwater, preventing excessive flooding in Mumbai. The state government plans to use the saltpan land to build affordable housing. Maharashtra has about 13,000 acres of salt-pan land, with 5,379 acres in Mumbai.
According to DCPR 2034, 1,781 acres of this land can have development. Out of this, there is dispute for 44.563 acres and encroachment on 5.822 acres.
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