Mahim Nature Park will not be included in Dharavi Redevelopment Project: Development Authority to Bombay High Court

The Dharavi Re-development Project Authority informed the Bombay High Court on Monday that Mahim Nature Park will not be included in the redevelopment project of the Dharavi slums..A bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Sandeep Marne also recorded the clarification by the authority that as long as the nature park remains a reserved area in the State’s development plan, it will not be used for any other purpose other than recreation.“The affidavit (by the authority) specifically and succinctly states that Mahim Nature Park is excluded from the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, is not part of the project and will not be included in the project. There cannot be a use contrary to the development plan and the same cannot be developed for any purposes. So long as the development plan shows ‘nature park’, they cannot make a use which is contrary to the purpose stated. The petition thus stands disposed of,” the order passed by the Court recorded. .The statement was made during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by an NGO on an apprehension that the nature park which is a reserved forest may be included within the scope of the redevelopment project of Dharavi slum area. Senior Advocate Gayatri Singh, appearing for the NGO, pointed out that the project may unlawfully allow the project proponent to acquire or develop the Mahim Nature Park in contravention of its protected nature status. The ACJ however specified that in the event the recreational area has to be changed to anything but a recreational park or reserved area, changes will have to be made in the development plan of the Maharashtra government. Senior Advocate Dr Milind Sathe for the authority said that in the event, the State decides to change it to something else aside from reserved forest, it will be the State’s prerogative, and the petitioner may challenge the same..Dharavi, one of the largest slums in the world, is proposed to be redeveloped. The Adani Group had emerged as highest bidder for the redevelopment of the 259-hectare land for a sum of ₹5,069 crores.