Mumbai, World Habitat Day Rally for DRP with the people of Dharavi
About 200 people, Social Activists, Community Leaders and Representatives of Grass-root NGOs participated in the World Habitat Day Rally organized on 31st October, 2014 in Dharavi, Mumbai, India.
The organizations who participated in the said rally were: Dharavi Nagarik Samithi, People’s Responsible Organisation of United Dharavi (PROUD), SNEHA and All India Plastic Recycler’s Association (AIPRA).
More than 80% of people in Dharavi currently live in the houses which are less than 100 Sq. Ft. or less. People of Dharavi have struggled untiringly for years to have decent shelter and have shed their blood and sweat to transform Dharavi slum(once a dumping ground) to a better place to live.
It has always been the ever-ending dreams and aspirations of the people to have decent houses with attached water taps and toilets, but years after years elections come and go, governments come and go and even several promises were made by the politicians during elections were never been fulfilled.
Following are some of our demands:
- Implementation of DRP with the consent or approval by the people of Dharavi.
- Eligible residents of Dharavi whether they are on Pipelines, Railway lines, Under Tata Power lines, & Bridges but should be rehabilitated within Dharavi.
- Just building flats are not enough, Govt. should ensure Livelihood of the people and the existing home-based, self employment and small scale industrial units in Dharavi must be protected.
- Existing structures and the present occupant must be considered as the eligible person.
- While our Govt. proposes Public-Private Partnership, we demand Public-Private-Community Partnership in Dharavi Redevelopment Project(DRP).
- Hawker’s Zone must be created for thousands of hawkers in Dharavi.
- Considering the low bank interest, developer must be asked to deposit at-least Rs. 1Lakh per family instead of just Rs.20,000/- the interest of which will go towards society maintenance.
- Finally, Govt. should come-up with proper policy to provide affordable houses to all those who are in rented houses.
A memorandum was submitted to the newly elected Chief Minister, Housing Minister of Maharashtra and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) on November 3rd 2014.