Mumbai: While the Maharashtra government has assured to bring white paper on Dharavi redevelopment project, former member of parliament has sought white paper on the slum rehabilitation authority project in the city. Gopal Shetty has written to the revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil raising concerns over SRA’s efficiency and has demanded a white paper on all the work carried out under the scheme.
During the recent monsoon session of the state assembly, Vikhe-Patil had announced on the floor to bring a white paper on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project after Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan alleged “big scam” in the project. Meanwhile, former MP Shetty has written to the revenue minister to bring a white paper on the SRA scheme in Mumbai citing that only three lakh homes have been built under the scheme since it was constituted 38 years ago.
Writing to Vikhe-Patil “on behalf of the slum dwellers”, Shetty expressed his gratitude for announcing white paper on Dharavi redevelopment project and said that it will reveal the people responsible for the difficulties faced in the project. However, he said that a white paper on SRA projects in Mumbai will also reveal how the slum rehabilitation plans have been stalled for many years by the elected representatives, government officials, courts as well as the people of the local slums.
“Mumbai should become slum-free and everyone should get a 300 sq ft house in Mumbai. Crores of rupees are being spent every year by the government on sewers, drains and waste water in the slums and nobody seems to be aware of this. On the contrary, many are trying to stop the SRA scheme. Issuing a white paper is the only panacea to overcome this,” Shetty stated in the letter.
Shetty also suggested that other such big projects like Dharavi project, should be given to big developers in Mumbai to create a field for competition. He claimed that with this approach, the government will be freed from spending billions of rupees every year for slum facilities, government will record an increase in tax and the city will be freed from slums along with raising the standard of living of the people living in the slums.
Talking to The Free Press Journal, Shetty said, “SRA is the biggest concern for people like me who has been working for 40 years to solve housing issues for people living in the slums. It is very evident that the SRA is not functioning as it should be as it has constructed only three lakh homes in 38 years. As SRA plans to construct another two lakh homes in the next three years, a white paper on slums in Mumbai can help the authority to move the plan forward more dynamically.”
