Mumbai Out of Bounds for Workers, Slum Dwellers -- But Politicians Cash In

Despite a six-month respite in Mumbai's drive to demolish squatter neighborhoods, the Inter Press Service News Agency points out that gentrification continues apace as the city's former textile mills have been sold off at astoundingly high prices. "Last week, the new, unabashedly pro-rich, approach was confirmed when a chunk of 243 hectares of prime property owned by defunct textile mills was sold to the very politicians who had made their careers opposing such sales," reporter Sandhya Srinivasan wrote. The article provided no documentation that politicos are involved in the land grab, but other reports (see sify.com) noted that one property, Kohinoor Mill, was bought by a concern promoted by Manohar Joshi., a leader of the Shiv Sena, the political party that ruled Mumbai until last year.