Dharavi redevelopment: Document submission deadline ends; 15,000 may be excluded

Those listed under “documents not received” may be left out from the project unless, as a special measure later, they are allowed to submit ownership documents

Mumbai: Around 15,000 tenement owners in Dharavi could be excluded from the Adani Group-led redevelopment project of one of Asia’s largest slums, as the deadline to submit documents proving eligibility to avail of alternate housing units ended on April 15, according to officials.

Mumbai, India - February 24, 2021: Top view of Dharavi in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, February 24, 2021. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), the special purpose vehicle responsible for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), will now begin reviewing the documents submitted by April 15, according to a statement from the company. The earlier deadline to submit the documents was March 31, which was extended by a fortnight.

“We are now preparing the draft Annexure-II based on documents received from areas where the household survey has been fully completed,” said DRP deputy collectors in charge of the household survey. “Those who chose not to take part in the survey will be listed as ‘documents not received’ in the Draft Annexure-II.”

In other words, those categorised under “documents not received” may perhaps be left out from the project unless, as a special measure at a later date, they are permitted to submit the ownership documents, said an official in the know who requested anonymity.

DRP has physically mapped nearly 100,000 structures in Dharavi. Of these, about 94,500 have been given unique identification numbers, and around 89,000 have been digitally mapped. So far, household surveys have been completed for 70,000 tenements.

“Those who have not opted to be numbered nor have expressed their intention officially to be included would be assumed to be illegal tenements and would be accordingly dealt with,” officials said. The structures yet to be surveyed will not be earmarked as “documents not received” or labelled as illegal tenements, they added.

The door-to-door survey will, however, continue in areas where tenements have been numbered and door-to-door inputs have not been taken yet. “The survey is still ongoing in some pockets to ensure every Dharavikar is included in the redevelopment,” the NMDPL statement read. “This is a housing-for-all project, and the government wants no one to miss out on its benefits.”

DRP is an independent branch of the Slum Regulatory Authority (SRA) formed to execute the mega redevelopment project in the heart of Mumbai. DRP holds a 20% stake in NMDPL, with the remaining 80% belonging to the Adani Group.