Medha Patkar to continue hunger strike over Golibar issue

Social activist Medha Patkar, who is on fast since last Friday seeking amendment in the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, today said she would continue the hunger strike till her demands are met.

Patkar, along with 50 others, was detained by Kherwadi police on Friday after which she sat on hunger strike inside the police station. She was then released in the evening and is currently holding fast at Golibar area.

"I would continue with the hunger strike till our demands are met. We are demanding that the state government scrap the controversial 3K clause of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971, investigate all the projects sanctioned under section 3K and cease the demolitions of slums until then," she said.

Under this 3K section, the state can directly award the project to a developer without acquiring the consent of 70 per cent of the slum dwellers, a mandatory requirement under other slum rehabilitation projects, Patkar said.

We want Rajiv Awas Yojana, under which no cut-off dates will be considered to prove eligibility for rehabilitation, to be implemented in Mumbai, she added.

The Kherwadi police had resorted to lathicharge to disperse a mob which opposed a demolition drive at Golibar Colony to make way for an Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project.