Sukanya Shantha 
Mumbai: Since the early 2000s, the redevelopment of Dharavi, one of the largest slum regions in Asia, has remained a politically contentious issue. In 2022, the Maharashtra government awarded the Dharavi redevelopment project to the Adani Group, bringing the issue back to the forefront.
In the backdrop of the upcoming Maharashtra state assembly election, The Wire met with the Congress candidate who was on a door- to-door election campaign in the area. Jyoti Gaikwad, an Ayurvedic doctor by profession and the younger sister of Member of Parliament Varsha Gaikwad, is making her debut in electoral politics. Just months before the elections, Jyoti, who had taken her husband’s last name after marriage, got her name officially reversed to Gaikwad just so that locals associate her with her family’s legacy.
Jyoti, in the interview, claimed that by handing over the redevelopment project to Adani, the Mahayuti government has virtually rendered the residents of Dharavi homeless. She also spoke about her family’s contribution in the region, the alternative plans that the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) has for Dharavi, and the long-standing Maratha reservation issue.
Excerpts from the chat are as follows.
You are contesting elections for the first time. Unlike your father (Eknath Gaikwad) and sister (Varsha Gaikwad) you haven’t been actively involved in politics. Also, you have not really lived in Dharavi. How familiar are you with Dharavi and its issues?
My father has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly from this constituency for three times and an MP, four times. My sister Varsha tai too has got elected from here four times. Although I have not had an active part in politics, Dharavi and its issues have been an integral part of my growing up. So nothing about it feels new. The Gaikwad family has had a long relationship with the region.
What according to you are the major concerns of the region?
There is only one right now. The takeover of the region by Adani. The government’s decision to hand over the redevelopment to Adani, along with a huge parcel of land in the Mumbai suburbs, have turned into a burning issue this election.
The government’s sole reason to get Adani involved in the redevelopment (of Dharavi) was to throw the families who have lived here for close to half a century out of the place. His men have been visiting the region and are making tall claims but most of these claims are untrue. For instance, one of their claims – of building new structures on the 60-feet road for those who are eligible – can’t be farther from truth. That land belongs to Railways and rehabilitating people on railway land is not possible as it can never be privately owned.
Note that only those who moved her before 2000 are considered eligible for rehabilitation. The rest aren’t. And even those eligible have no clarity about the exact place they would be rehabilitated to eventually.
The estimate says over seven lakh people are going to be declared ineligible and shunned out to suburban areas like Mulund, Bhandup, Kanjurmarg, Deonar Dumping Ground, Saltpan region in Mumbai suburbs, Madh and Malvani. Most of these are strictly non-developmental zones. But still, the government has gone all out to please a corporate honcho and hand over land in ecologically sensitive areas for building structures.
Our question is why is the government so keen in throwing the locals away to faraway places. People don’t just live here but also earn their living by running their small but sustainable businesses. The ecosystem of the region is such that the businesses thrive only because people are so close to their workplaces. Throwing people out of here also means snatching away their means of livelihood.
The government has been scheming for very long. We won’t let this materialise.
Can you explain how exactly the government is making way for Adani group to take over this and adjoining areas?
The decision to hand over land to Adani Realty came over two and half years ago. Since then, the government has slyly handed over more and more land to Adani, finally making their intentions clear to us. The most recent Government Resolution (GR) was issued on October 4 this year, making more adjustments to the existing plan. And now, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Ltd [Note: Adani Realty established a special purpose vehicle or SPV called DRPPL with the state government’s Dharavi Redevelopment Project Authority. Adani Realty owns 80% of DRPPL] has been acquiring more and more land outside Dharavi under the pretext of making rental arrangements for the locals here.
What kind of plan is this where the locals will be uprooted from the region and their businesses destroyed?
Redevelopment of Dharavi isn’t a new thing. Since early 2000, talks have been taking shape and then fizzling out. Since the Adani group came in to picture, people say some concrete steps, although not in the favour of the people here, are taking place on the ground. Congress, and other MVA allies, they claim, have been dissuading them from participating in the survey. How true is this?
Nothing good will come out of this survey. Then why should we cooperate with them for it? It is not like people are against development here. Everyone here, including the Congress, wants people to have better housing and better living conditions. We want better roads and parks here. But in the existing plan, that is not possible. The government has only one plan – to benefit Adani. Why would we allow that kind of destruction?
So, does your party and the MVA have any concrete plans to offer the residents here?
A plan can be worked out without having to displace anyone or their businesses. We want to ensure that people stay closer to their place of business and their places of worship are also saved.
For the past many days, surveyors have been visiting the region regularly. On one such occasion, I stopped them and asked them for their blue print. What is it that they want to offer people here? They had nothing. They either have no blueprint or are not making it public. Why are these surveys carried out without taking people into confidence, without telling them what is in the offing for them? This entire exercise has induced so much anxiety among the people here.
The government made the land available to Adani at a throwaway price. Why did that happen? Salt pan land that acts as a barrier for floods in the city, were handed over to Adani. Why did the government not think about the environmental hazard this decision could pose for an already fragile region?
They want to send the people of Dharavi to the Deonar Dumping Ground. People out there are dying of lung ailments; they are inhaling poisonous gases. Those people are moving out and looking for alternative accommodation and the government wants to throw people of Dharavi there. Why? Only because Adani wants this land. And because it is a strategically located region and Adani wants to build a BKC-2 here [Note: BKC is Bandra Kurla Complex, one of the thriving corporate zones in the city].
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Your candidature while for the Gaikwad family and your party was a natural one, your allies are not. Baburao Mane, of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), who has been actively working in the region was upset with the decision to field you from the region and even went ahead and filed his nomination. Similarly, many party workers, including some from your own office have filed their nominations. Their allegation has been that that your family, like most from your party, has been promoting dynasty politics. What is your take?
None of this is true. Eknath Gaikwad and Varsha tai have been winning from here for several decades. My father had once lost to Mane and Mane had distributed sweets only because he could win against my father. So, you can imagine what his intentions were. Besides that, all ally parties are here with me, campaigning for me door to door. We are all working together.
What is your take on the long-standing demand for reservation for the Maratha community in the state?
Our leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been saying all along: Carry out caste census in the country and come up with policies and give reservation and shares as per the different community’s population and their social and educational condition. This ask is valid. We are not against any community seeking reservation. Just that it needs to be done systematically, on getting proper data in hand.