Dharavi redevelopment project area goes up to 259 hectares

Mumbai: The Dharavi redevelopment project is going to be bigger in size as its total area has been increased to 259 hectares, according to the request for proposal (RFP) issued by the slum redevelopment authority (SRA)

Mumbai: The Dharavi redevelopment project is going to be bigger in size as its total area has been increased to 259 hectares, according to the request for proposal (RFP) issued by the slum redevelopment authority (SRA).

Housing - Slums - Dharavi Skyline - Aerial View of Dharavi in Mumbai- HT Photo by Kunal Patil 17.04.09 - APR09 2K9

An agreement has also been signed between the railways, through Rail Land Development Authority, and the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), to include a land parcel of 47.37 acres belonging to the former, in the notified area. It will help in speedy development of the project, revealed the RFP document.

The SRA has issued an RFP for appointing a project management consultant (PMC) which will help the selected bidder to obtain necessary approvals from the concerned authorities, technical guidance, review plans and master plans prepared by the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project among others.

The state has also approved floor space index (FSI) of four and additional fungible FSI available as per the prevailing development control regulations (DCR) for rehabilitation, renewal component and free sale built up area in the open market.

“We will use maximum FSI for the Dharavi redevelopment project without which the project will not become feasible,” said Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister after holding a review meeting about the project on Wednesday.

The order for floating fresh tenders for the project was issued on Wednesday, following a decision by the state cabinet in its meeting held last week. The cabinet also approved the setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for integrated development of a 259-hectare project that aims to transform India’s largest slum pocket into a plush township.

In the beginning the area of the project was 178-hectare. The state urban development department notified land admeasuring about 178.30 hectares for the project by issuing a notification on March 9, 2005. Another 62-hectare land was notified for the project back in June 25, 2009, which has now been increased to 259-hectare. “The gross plot area of the Dharavi project is now approximately 259.54 hectares including railway land,” states the RFP document.

According to a GIS based biometric and socio-economic survey carried out by Maharashtra Social Housing and Action League (MASHAL), a Pune based NGO, in 2007-08, there are approximately, 49,643 slum dwellers (39,208 residential and 10,435 commercial) and 9,522 renewal tenements in chawls (6,981 residential and 2,541 commercial). Besides, it is estimated that there are approximately 4,818 slum dwellers on railway land, who also need to be rehabilitated.

The state government is planning to provide houses to the ineligible residents of Dharavi under affordable rental housing scheme and wants to use the salt pan land in Wadala. “The consultant will approach the union ministry of commerce and industries requesting them to make available a plot at Wadala salt pan land for a period of 99 years to implement an affordable rental housing scheme,” said a senior official from the state housing department.

There are around 7 lakh people residing on mezzanine and upper floors in slum structures, who are ineligible. They will be accommodated, preferably within a 10-km radius, anywhere in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), under either Prime Minister Awas Yojana or under affordable rental housing scheme, the officials said.

The tendering process for the project had failed multiple times in the past for reasons, such as mixed usage of land in Dharavi, the eligibility criteria for rehabilitation of tenements and market slowdowns, among others.