Dharavi residents’ group withdraws hunger strike

Mumbai: Less than eight hours after starting a chain hunger strike to oppose the Adani group-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited’s (DRPPL) plans of holding a ground-breaking ceremony, the Dharavi Bachao Andolan (DBA) on Wednesday withdrew their stir. The decision was taken following a request from Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai and an assurance from the Mumbai Police that no such ceremony was planned for Thursday.
“During the second half today, member of parliament Anil Desai approached us with a request to call off the strike. We also got a call from Mumbai Police informing us that the Adani group would not hold any groundbreaking function tomorrow. So we decided to call off our hunger strike,” said former MLA Baburao Mane, who is with Shiv Sena (UBT). The larger protest against the Adani group’s involvement in the redevelopment project would continue, he said.
The DBA, comprising Dharavi residents opposed to the redevelopment project, has been demanding transparency from the Adani Properties-led DRPPL as well as the state government regarding the revamp plans. The group enjoys the support of multiple political outfits including Shiv Sena (UBT), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
The chain hunger strike, slated for two days, was a mark of protest against the Adani group’s plans of holding a groundbreaking ceremony “without announcing any blueprint or master plan for Dharavi’s makeover or discussing the same with the locals,” the DBA said in a statement. The strike commenced on Wednesday morning at the RPF ground in Matunga, amid rumors that the ceremony would be held at the same venue on Thursday.
But sources told HT that the event scheduled for Thursday was not an official function and no representatives from the Adani group or the state government were slated to participate in it.
“Only one of the contractors had plans to mobilise men and machinery and perform a symbolic puja at Matunga to initiate works on the railway land that is part of the larger redevelopment project,” a source told HT. The event is likely to go ahead as planned, the source added.
The project to transform one of Asia’s largest slums was awarded to the Ahmedabad-based Adani Properties in November 2023, following the company bid of ₹5,069 crore. Gurugram-based DLF had placed a bid worth ₹2,025 crore while Shree Naman Group’s attempt was disqualified during the scrutiny of technical submissions, as a result of which the financial bid remained unopened.