Land survey for Dharavi rehab blocked again

Aksa village in Malad saw a determined face-off between locals and city survey officials (CSO) from the collector's office who had come to survey a plot for the rehabilitation of residents from the Gautam Adani-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

- Sabah Virani

MUMBAI: On Thursday, Aksa village in Malad saw a determined face-off between locals and city survey officials (CSO) from the collector's office who had come to survey a plot for the rehabilitation of residents from the Gautam Adani-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

Having stalled one attempt like this, the locals were all set to ensure that the second one too met with failure. However, the officials gave them the slip by arriving three hours earlier in a police van.

"Villagers were waiting at the ground's entrance from 9 am to prevent the officials' entry, only to find out they had already entered and were beginning the survey," said Kiran Koli, general secretary of the Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti. "As soon as this came to light, around 3,000 more people left their homes to come and stop them."

Rajendra Kshirsagar, district collector of Mumbai Suburban, however, claimed that the survey was completed before the protestors could stop it.