Bombay HC told Mahim Nature Park excluded from Dharavi project; court disposes plea

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne noted that so long as the DP shows it as a nature park, there cannot be a use contrary to the DP and it cannot be developed for any other purposes.

The bench disposed a PIL filed by NGO Vanashakti and environmental activist Zoru Bhathena that sought direction from the HC to the authority to not include the area covered under the Mahim Nature Park for the project.

“Affidavit specifically and succinctly states that Mahim Nature Park is excluded from Dharavi Redevelopment Project and is not part of the project and will not be included in the project. It is also accepted by petitioner that Mahim Nature Park is shown in DP as reserved for nature. There cannot be a use contrary to the DP, and the same cannot be developed for any purposes. So long as DP shows nature park, the usage cannot be contrary,” the bench noted and disposed of the plea.

In November last year, the Adani Group won the bid for the redevelopment project. The makeover of Asia’s biggest slum cluster will be undertaken by Adani Realty, the real estate wing of Adani Group.

The NGO had claimed that the area concerned was “erroneously and unlawfully” included in the area covered under the redevelopment project.

It claimed that the tender dated October 1, 2022 clearly showed that Mahim Nature Park is inside the outer boundary of Sector-5 of Dharavi notified area and has been misleadingly marked as an ‘excluded area’ by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA).

It claimed that the SRA has marked the area concerned as ‘recreational open space’ under its existing land use plan, whereas it is a protected forest under Indian Forest Act, 1927.