A day after the state Cabinet passed the Dharavi redevelopment plan, residents of the area gathered together on Wednesday to discuss their future, seek additional information about the plan and demand answers. Members of the Dharavi Nagrik Manch (DNM), an organisation that works for the area's residents, discussed what this means for them. "We only came to know via newspapers that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been formed for redevelopment of Dharavi, but there is still no further clarity in the matter and we are looking for answers," said Sanjay Shinde of DNM. Residents who had lived in Dharavi before the cut-off date of January 1, 2000, would be given houses measuring 350 sq.ft, while those who missed the cut-off would get houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. This has upset many locals, like Manik Prabhavati, who has demanded the government conduct the redevelopment itself instead of handing it over to the SPV. "Our demand since Day One has been that Dharavi not be treated as any other part of Mumbai. It's a special case, and we expect all slum dwellers, regardless of the cut-off date, be given free homes," he said. This apart, residents who have houses bigger than 350 sq.ft are also up in arms, over fears that their new houses would be smaller. "Many slum dwellers won't agree to the redevelopment if it means the size of their house is about to shrink," Shinde said. For every resident who has agreed to the redevelopment, there appears to be at least one who is opposing it. What complicates the issue is the fact that Dharavi has a lot of mixed-use tenements, with both residential and commercial structures under one roof. Srinivas said they would study this aspect of the locality, and would take this into consideration at the planning stage. "The 90-acre railway land adjacent to Dharavi is being sought, so residents don't move far away, and their transit accommodation is built close by," he said.

Stay updated with all the Mumbai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.