Why should Mumbaikars fund Dharavi land grab, questions Aaditya Thackery
News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 5th February 2025
Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray, MLA Worli and President of Yuva Sena raised allegations on social media about Mumbai residents being forced to fund the Adani Group’s land acquisition in Dharavi.
In a post on social media website ‘X’, Thackeray wrote, “Why should Mumbaikars fund Adani Group’s Dharavi land grab? Last week BJP run state government told @mybmc to spend (Mumbai’s tax money) on cleaning Deonar dumping ground. It will cost BMC approximately Rs3000 crores.”
He further pointed out that the Deonar land was already grabbed by the Adani Group, despite objections from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). “The Deonar land already has been grabbed by the Adani Group, against the wishes of the BMC,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray also mentioned a new plan in the BMC budget that would require Mumbai homeowners to pay a levy for waste pickup, so indirectly supporting the Deonar cleaning. He questioned the reasoning behind this, asking, “Why should Mumbaikars support this land grab so aggressively? Will Mumbaikars receive free houses in Dharavi in exchange for this contribution?
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Congress MP, stated in November 2024 that the people of Maharashtra were “deprived” of their government and that the present administration “handed over” Dharavi to Adani.
Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde later accused Lok Sabha Leader Rahul Gandhi of propagating misleading information about the Dharavi reconstruction project, claiming that around “two lakh people will be getting homes in Dharavi.”Aaditya Thackeray has often spoken out about Dharavi. In August 2024, he wanted assurances from the Maharashtra government that the new buildings being built in Dharavi as part of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will be allotted to the people.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader stated during the ‘Dharavi Bachao Andolan’ that the government will not be “able to remove our Dharavikars” from Dharavi.
