Medha Patkar ends fast after Maha govt agrees to demands

"Medha has ended her fast after Collector Nirmal Deshmukh came up with a notification this afternoon. They have agreed to her demands," Madhuresh Kumar, a member of National Alliance of Peoples' Movement (NAPM) and Patkar's associate said.

She was on a fast from May 20 in Golibar slum area of Mumbai, where a 140-acre land has been handed to a private builder. The activist claimed that signatures of slum dwellers were forged on letters of consent given for a proposed slum-rehabilitation project.

Medha had also demanded the removal of Clause 3K of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971, that allows the state government to take over land without requiring consent of slum dwellers, investigation into all the projects sanctioned under this section and the implementation of Rajiv Awas Yojana in Mumbai.

"The government has agreed to constitute two new joint committees with representatives of the civil society. One would look into Ganesh Kripa Housing society issue and will submit its report on June 15," Kumar said.

The second committee will investigate 15 slum areas where Clause 3K of the Maharashtra Slum Act has been used and submit a report in four months, he said.