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Last October, a day before the Assembly elections were announced, the Maharashtra government cleared a proposal to rehabilitate an estimated 50,000-1 lakh residents of the Dharavi slum redevelopment project at the Deonar landfill, the site of one of the biggest waste dumps in Mumbai, a project steered by an Adani Group-Maharashtra government joint venture.
An investigation of records accessed by The Indian Express under the Right to Information Act, field visits and interviews with officials involved in the landmark project reveal that this flies in the face of established environmental norms and guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The Dharavi redevelopment roadmapIndeed, as per CPCB’s 2021 guidelines for development projects in a “closed” landfill – one that’s no longer in operation — facilities such as hospitals, housing and schools cannot be built inside a landfill and a 100-metre no-development-zone from its boundary is mandatory.
But Deonar is no closed landfill; instead, it’s an active landfill, spewing toxic gases and discharging leachate (the liquid that drains out of waste piles, potentially contaminating groundwater, surface water and the soil with toxic organic and inorganic pollutants).
According to a 2024 CBCB report submitted to the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal, an average 6,202 kg of methane is emitted from the Deonar landfill every hour, making it one of the top 22 methane hotspots in India.
Which is why, the state’s decision to move Dharavi residents to the Deonar landfill site raises several questions – and eyebrows.
The roadmap for rehab
Of the 600-acre sprawl of slums and factories that make up Dharavi, 296 acres have been earmarked for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) that aims to transform Asia’s biggest slum into a modern urban hub with improved housing and amenities. It proposes to provide in-situ and ex-situ rehabilitation to the residents living there. Senior IAS officer SVR Srinivas is the CEO of the project.