Malvani slums to be redeveloped like Dharavi Project
The 1,200-acre land mass of Malvani, known for its large slum colonies, will be developed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the lines of the Dharavi redevelopment project
The 1,200-acre land mass of Malvani, known for its large slum colonies, will be developed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the lines of the Dharavi redevelopment project. The first meeting in this regard was held at BMC commissioner I S Chahal’s office on Monday.
Sources in the BJP said that the Malwani plan was City BJP chief Ashish Shelar’s brainchild. “It was an internal meeting of the BMC,” said Shelar when contacted. “I had issued a letter in this regard.”
The meeting was chaired by Chahal and attended by officers of the P North ward and estates department, officers of the revenue department, Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), salt commissioner’s office and defence department. Chahal will be the first CEO of the Dharavi Redevelopment project, and BMC officers said this experience would count a lot in the Malvani redevelopment plan.
“We have decided to collect all the basic details and replicate the Dharavi model in Malvani. We will soon have a meeting with the deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the housing minister,” said a senior BMC officer. Malvani will be more accessible to the rest of the city after the completion of the Versova-Madh bridge.
While Dharavi measures around 270 acres, Malvani is 1,200 acres, of which 890 acres belongs to the revenue department and 290 acres to the Centre, including the defence ministry. A portion of the land belongs to the salt commissioner while a part of it is covered with mangroves. Some of the land falls in a no development zone, and development in another small tract of marshy area is not possible under the CRZ regulations.
Some BMC officers said that the provisions of Development Regulation 33(9a) and 33(10 a) of the DCR, which were made applicable to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project should be made applicable to the Malvani project as well.
When contacted, Chahal did not comment. However, other officers said that barely any development had been done by the SRA in Malvani. “This area is considered very downmarket, but one could have sea-facing apartments here in the saleable component and utilise the profit to construct buildings for slum dwellers. The BMC also plans to have a project, that of a colony with wide roads, schools, hospitals and workplaces,” said an officer, adding that tenders would be invited at a global level.
Meanwhile, the work order for the Dharavi redevelopment project is expected to be issued soon.
