Dharavi survey runs into trouble even before it starts

Even before a work order is issued, a biometrics-based survey to establish exactly how many families live in Dharavi has already...

Even before a work order is issued, a biometrics-based survey to establish exactly how many families live in Dharavi has already run into trouble. For, slum activist and Magsaysay awardee Jockin Arputham may be vice-president of Mashaal that has bagged the contract, but he doesn’t believe that the NGO is adequately equipped to enumerate the beneficiaries of the Rs 9,250-crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

Worse, stating that he was not consulted before the organisation bid for the contract to conduct a fresh Cadastral survey, a biometrics-based baseline socio-economic survey of every household in the Central Mumbai slum, Arputham has decided to resign from his position in the Pune-based organisation.

“Even though I am vice-president of NGO Mashaal, I was not consulted at all… I do not believe that Mashaal, as it is today, has the capacity to undertake surveys of such magnitude for a project of such importance,” Arputham said in an email to The Indian Express. “In view of the fact that Mashaal has applied for this tender without consulting me in any way, I have initiated steps to resign from my position.”

So, even as the potters of Dharavi prepared to file a writ petition in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday opposing the multi-crore project that has caught the fancy of global realty leaders, Arputham reiterated that his opposition to the project continues and that he is not “co-opted” by the government in any way.

However, Mashaal’s executive head and urban planner Sharad Mahajan said it was not true that Arputham was not apprised of the plan. Acknowledging that the senior activist was “a little angry” since he didn’t know the precise details before Mashaal placed their bid, Mahajan said they hope to resolve “internal issues” without washing dirty linen in public.

In a phone conversation on Tuesday afternoon, Arputham said he hoped to find a “via media” to conduct the survey in a way that qualitative data from Dharavi’s households is collected and residents’ opinions and hopes taken into account in designing the project.

Mashaal— it has earlier conducted surveys for civic corporations of Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur—certainly has the technical expertise for an accurate survey, Mahajan said, notwithstanding the political stand of any senior activists. “For the first time, all details of the survey will be available on a website, it will be a transparent process and accurate, factual details will be available to all, including critics of the project,” he added.

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Arputham, who has been associated with Mashaal for well over a decade, is also part of various other NGOs, Mahajan pointed out. “If he felt any other organisation is better equipped, they could have bid. I’m sure the government would have given them a fair chance in the selection procedure,” he stated.