Hey friends you all know that there are a lot of problems to be debated about in this world. One among them is the following one. Recently i saw a brief program in discovery channel; it was about a slum called Dharavi. It is located in one of the big cities in India. Guess what? It is in Mumbai. You wouldn't believe guys, this is one of the largest slums in the world covering an area of about 216.51 hectares and the current population is around 1 million
The condition over there is really pathetic. You know friends there is a funny
situation prevailing over there. The government has planned for a redevelopment program and the initial budget was 5000 crores in 2004. In 2010 it is estimated at 15000 crores and the plan has not even been initiated. Companies from all over the world have bid to redevelop Dharavi including the popular Lehman brothers. Now the plan is managed by an American trained Indian architect Mr.Mukesh Mehta. The plan involves the construction of 30,000,000 square feet of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the 57,000 families, along with 40,000,000 square feet of residential and commercial space for sale. There has been significant local opposition to the plans, largely because existing residents are due to receive only 225 square feet of land each. Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before the year 2000 are slated for resettlement. Then what are the other people expected to do, stand in the road holding placards and screaming for their rights (just to live). Concerns have also been raised by residents who fear that some of their small businesses in the "informal" sector may not be relocated under the redevelopment plan. The government has said that it will only legalize and relocate industries that are not polluting.
Actually the traditional business over there is pottery and textile industries. Apart from that there is an increasing number of recycling industry processing recyclable wastes from other parts of Mumbai. The district has an estimated 5000 businesses and 15000 single room factories. And my view about this plan is that it is not good enough. We have already seen quite a few corruption scams in India. Ok no problem let's wait and see who is going to loot this 15000 crores. The plan is too unfair. Have you ever seen a small scale pottery or textile industry in a well-developed area? But this is what the government is planning to do. In discovery channel they showed Mr. Mukesh Mehta entering the slum in his costly car. He came to convince the people of Dharavi. But he was unable to answer the questions raised. Consequently he walked out with his head drooped saying the people to list out their 10 important problems and then he would solve it after discussing with his officials. Sounding funny right? This slum is in an important area and it is like a money yielding tree. So the businessmen and the government are trying to transform it into a money yielding place by building shopping malls and huge industries. And for this the government is going to deteriorate the poor people. Not only me but most of the people are against this plan. This problem has made us to think whether we need a clean developed place by sacrificing the lives of many people or to save the lives of people. We are actually in a catch 22 situation. Hope a savior save them. Hey friends just feel free to post your comments on this disastrous program.
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