Railway employees worried about displacement by Adani-led DRP | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) has brought with it the threat of long-term displacement of railway employees, who have always stayed in residential quarters parallel to the railway tracks. The DRP has proposed shifting them to transit accommodation in Kalina, Wadala and Kurla, areas that are two to 3.5 km away from railway stations. Railway employees from rail staff quarters in Matunga and Mahim have now taken up the issue with assembly election candidates.

“The MoU signed in 2019 between the railways and the DRP clearly states that redevelopment of existing quarters will be completed before the dismantling of existing structures,” said railway employees. “However, we are now being informed that we will be moved to transit camps for the next few years. So many families will be displaced to accommodate people from Dharavi on our land.”

Earlier this week, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Mahesh Sawant met the railway employees at the Matunga railway quarters. “The way they are being moved out is completely wrong,” he said. “My party and I are opposing the way this project is being implemented.”

The railway staff residing at Matunga, where work on the DRP has begun, works in the safety cadre as motormen, drivers, engineers and other rail maintenance departments. There are around 225 families here.

Sources in the railways said that there was a chain of correspondence with the administration of Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR), the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) and the DRP. Hindustan Times has copies of the letters which date back to August 20.

The first letter, from Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), states that in order to expedite the construction for the railway quarters at Matunga Railway Colony, various options to shift people to a transit accommodation for two to three years are being considered. Railway sources said that the transit period could extend further, depending on the progress of the project.

‘Vacating of these quarters and handing over of the railway land to redevelop railway facilities is essential and should be done at the earliest to get the newly redeveloped facilities in time. Proposed locations for shifting by DRP/SRA are Air India Colony at Kalina, Dosti Developer colony at Wadala and Kohinoor Developer colony at Kurla,’ reads another letter written by RLDA to the WR and CR authorities on September 12.

In the letters, the DRPPL authorities also mention the distance of the transit accommodation from the nearest railway stations. The Air India colony in Kalina is 3.5 km and 3.2 km away from the Santacruz and Kurla railway stations while Wadala and Dadar stations are two km and three km away respectively from the Dosti transit camp. Kohinoor in Kurla is two km away from Vidyavihar station and 2.3 km from Kurla station. When HT contacted DRPPL, they refused to comment.