Hoardings with CM and DCM Caricatures Removed by BMC

A series of protest hoardings in Dharavi were taken down by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) staffers on Friday, a move that has triggered strong reactions from local organisers opposing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. The banners, installed by the Dharavi Bachao Andolan (DBA) and the Shetkari Kamgar Paksh, had been placed across neighbourhood lanes to publicise a December 7 public meeting. The organisers later stated that civic and police personnel had verbally indicated that the caricatures of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister displayed on the banners were considered disrespectful to their official positions, and therefore the hoardings were removed.

The protest organisers have said that cartoons have long been part of India’s democratic tradition, and it was claimed that this sudden removal was unexpected. It was further explained that around 25 small hoardings had reportedly been dismantled from various spots, including commercial stretches and residential clusters. The hoardings carried slogans demanding the removal of the private developer from the redevelopment plan and urging protection of Dharavi residents. Footage from the area showed municipal workers detaching banners fixed near shopfronts and busy inner lanes.

The protest meeting being publicised was said to have been organised in response to the recently issued Annexure-2 eligibility lists across several pockets of Dharavi—Meghwadi–Ganesh Nagar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. According to the organisers, between 80% and 85% of the residents surveyed in these neighbourhoods had been categorised as ineligible for rehabilitation under the project, with only a small fraction marked as eligible. In Rajiv Gandhi Nagar alone, it was reported that only two of 121 surveyed households had been found eligible, while the rest had been placed under ineligible or pending verification categories.

Additionally, residents of Ganesh Nagar–Meghwadi were stated to have received eviction notices granting seven days to vacate their homes. These notices, reportedly issued by Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) authorities, warned that forcible removal of structures could follow if the instructions were not followed, and that land could thereafter be transferred to the developer.

Organisers of the December 7 meeting have alleged that the recent actions—including the eligibility exclusions, eviction notices and now the removal of hoardings—revealed an attempt to clear residents to facilitate a larger redevelopment linked to commercial expansion plans. Despite the removal of the banners, it has been affirmed by former MLA Baburao Mane and DBA convenor Advocate Rajendra Korde that the scheduled public gathering will proceed without alteration. It was stated that no administrative pressure would deter residents from assembling for the meeting.