Dharavi redevelopment to kickstart with survey on March 18

The data will be used by the government to determine the rehabilitation eligibility of the residents. The survey will also create, for the first time ever, a ‘Digital Dharavi,’ an advanced library of one of the world’s largest informal settlements

MUMBAI: The Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between the state government and the Adani Group, on Monday announced that a survey would be launched on March 18 to collect data from the lakhs of slum dwellers living in Dharavi. The data will be used by the government to determine the rehabilitation eligibility of the residents. The survey will also create, for the first time ever, a ‘Digital Dharavi,’ an advanced library of one of the world’s largest informal settlements.

Dharavi redevelopment to kickstart with survey on March 18

“The Government of Maharashtra will kickstart one of the largest urban rejuvenation projects in the world, which is the first step towards making Mumbai slum-free,” said a DRPPL spokesperson. “It is the beginning of transforming Dharavi into a world-class township, a state-of-the-art city within Mumbai. We urge all Dharavikars to support this exercise, which will enable us to execute the rehabilitation process and ultimately provide them with their dream homes.”

The survey will begin from Kamla Raman Nagar, with a unique number being allotted to each slum tenement. This will be followed by laser-mapping of the respective lanes, known as a ‘Lidar Survey’. A trained team will visit every tenement with an indigenously developed application to scan documents. A toll-free number, 1800-268-8888, has been activated to respond to the queries and concerns of Dharavikars, said the spokesperson

“The unique feature of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) is that each and every informal tenement holder will get a home,” said the spokesperson. “For the very first time in such a project, homes will be provided to qualified ineligible tenement holders too. Recently, DRPPL announced that as per the DRP tender, all eligible and ineligible tenement holders will get a flat with an independent kitchen and toilet. Also, eligible industrial and commercial units in redeveloped Dharavi will enjoy a five-year tax holiday in State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) to boost and help formalise their businesses. This too is as per the tender conditions.”

The spokesperson added that DRPPL had engaged world-renowned city and infrastructure planning experts—the US-based design firm Sasaki and UK-based town planners Buro Happold—to design a world-class city.

Dharavi encompasses several thousand industrial and commercial units manufacturing garments and leather items. Many are vendors for large national and international brands sold across the world, with turnovers estimated to be in millions of dollars. They are keen to formalise their businesses to expand and get a fillip, both locally and globally.