Medha raises banner of revolt against Adarsh
Demanding the demolition of the illegal Adarsh building and seeking justice for the people who have been misled in this matter by the government, Patkar said she was staging an indefinite protest against the government. Slum-dwellers from Sion- Koliwada, Govandi- Mankhurd and Golibar area joined the protest.
About two hours before her arrest, Patkar said, " Adarsh is an illegitimate child born out of immoral relations between politicians, government and other authorities associated with Adarsh. This land belongs to the slum dwellers, who have been fraudulently victimised by the government under the pretext of rehabilitation. In August 2008, we had written a letter to the defence ministry stating that this land belonged to them and they must immediately take charge of it. However the ministry has been lackadaisical about it. By staging this protest we are demanding the demolition of this symbol of corruption." She further stated that, " The government and the builder have been making fake promises to the slumdwellers that they shall be rehabilitated. For the construction of this society, houses of slum dwellers were demolished immediately.
However, "the Government is turning a blind eye towards demolishing Adarsh" , she said. Government officials compelled slum- dwellers to sign on blank papers and stated that it is with the consent of the people that their homes are being demolished.
Also, we have sent a letter comprising questions regarding Adarsh to all the political parties in the state and have demanded an answer within four days." Patkar claimed that the government should scrap the 3K clause of the Maharashtra Slum Act, which states that the 70 per cent of the land should be reimbursed to the slum dwellers and the balance is gifted to the developer for redeveloping a slum colony. However, Patkar alleged that this law is neither followed by the government nor by the developer.
Shiv Sena MLA Vivek Pandit who was present on the site said, " Societies like Adarsh are cropping up everywhere and the common man is becoming a victim of all this. The government should demolish this illegal structure and yield justice to the people."
Medha raises banner of revolt against Adarsh
Reviewed by Kavitha Sreedhar
on
11:03 PM
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