Teach the politicians a lesson, says Medha

“None of the political parties have the political will to work seriously for the urban poor. I appeal to all the displaced slumdwellers of Mumbai to teach the political leadership a lesson for backing the builder lobby and not doing anything for the real urban poor. The announcements of affordable housing are nothing but helping the builders and we do not want the people of Mumbai to fall prey to it.”

This was the appeal made by noted social activist Medha Patkar to a group of displaced slumdwellers at Dadar, at a seminar organised by National Alliance of Peoples’ Movement (NAPM).

“The government seems to be just interested in vertical development. No serious attention is being paid to helping the slumdwellers. The government is just demolishing every slum colony that comes in its way and pushing the masses into one corner of the city. Whether it is the Hiranandani land scam at Powai or the MMRDA car depot issue in Kandivili, the government has been taking an anti-poor stand,” said Patkar.

She blasted Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for his anti-north Indian stance, pointing out that after 2000, most immigrants to Mumbai came from backward parts of the state.

Social worker and architect Neera Adarkar and Tata Institute of Social Sciences associate professor, Amita Bhide, spoke about the need for affordable housing. “The government, under the slum rehabilitation scheme, is constructing one skyscraper after other, but the apathy shown towards the facilities in such colonies is just not acceptable,” Adarkar said.

“According to official figures, the number of resident families below the poverty level is as little as 24,000. This clearly indicates that the government is altering the line to suit its convenience,” Bhide said.