Mumbai protestors march to Adani Group offices over city slum redevelopment plan

1000’s of protestors headed by opposition events marched to billionaire Gautam Adani’s places of work in Mumbai on Saturday to precise their objection to his conglomerate’s $614 million reconstruction plans for one of many metropolis’s largest slums.

The calls for of the protestors embody each eligible and non-eligible residents of the slum to be housed contained in the redeveloped space, be given greater properties of 500 sq. toes as an alternative of the promised 300-350 sq ft. and for the federal government to take over the slum overhaul as an alternative of personal builders like Adani. Baburao Mane, chief of Save Dharavi Committee (Dharavi Bachao Andolan), stated, “We aren’t in opposition to improvement, however the best way the Dharavi redevelopment is deliberate it’s going to solely profit Adani and never the slum residents.”

In November final 12 months, the Adani group gained the Dharavi redevelopment undertaking with a ₹5,069 crore bid. The Maharashtra authorities authorized the Adani Group’s proposal to rehabilitate Mumbai’s 590-acre Dharavi space, house to over 900,000 Indians this 12 months.

A competing bidder, a Dubai-based group, filed a judicial problem to the undertaking, claiming that the Maharashtra authorities improperly terminated an authentic 2018 tender for slum remediation and favored Adani in awarding the brand new contract. The federal government in energy (BJP authorities) and the Adani Group declare that it was through the earlier authorities (MVA authorities) that the settlement with the Adani group was signed. The Adani Group and the BJP authorities denied the allegations and asserted that the contracts had been allotted lawfully. The authorities additionally launched a press release concerning the identical.

This isn’t the one controversy over the Adani Group’s enterprise practices. Earlier this 12 months, the Supreme Court docket of India ordered an investigation into the Adani Group following accusations of enterprise malpractice.

Uddhav Thackeray, one of many leaders of the protests, categorically states that this undertaking is “the largest TDR [Transfer of Development Rights] rip-off of the world.” He additionally said, “Adani is getting TDR of Rs 1 crore, which implies his subsequent generations also can reside peacefully with out working. A lot is the TDR that the federal government is gifting them.”