Demanding 750 sqft homes, Dharavi residents go on hunger strike

Image Courtesy: Mid Day.

As part of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), one of the biggest slum pockets in the city is all set to be redeveloped soon.
While around 16 developers have already shown their interest in the project, and have offered 450 sqft apartments, along with a corpus amount of Rs 40,000 to slum dwellers, the desire for more amongst the locals have put the project in a quandary.
Demanding 750 sqft homes and a corpus amount of Rs 10 lakh, thousands of residents have gone on a hunger strike today.
The resident’s union has already sent out letters to prospective bidders informing the same and
have threatened of not allowing any redevelopment on their properties if their demands are not met.
To counter any pressure coming from politicians to end the strike or to accept to the offers made by the developers, the union has warned local leaders that they will boycott the upcoming civic elections if they try to intervene.
As this strike is speculated to last for three or more days, the tenders that were open till April 7, have now been postponed and will now open on April 20.