MMRDA-SRA team up to redevelop 15,000 slums in Ghatkopar

MMRDA to accelerate slum redevelopment in Mumbai partnering with SRA, aiming to revamp 15,000 tenements in Ghatkopar East & launch 'Slum Free Thane' project.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to expedite slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai. In a meeting held in Mantralaya on Tuesday, led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, the body decided to partner with the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) to jointly redevelop around 15,000 tenements in Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamraj Nagar, both in Ghatkopar East.

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Additionally, MMR will also work on a project titled ‘Slum Free Thane’, whereby swathes of occupied government land will be cleared and slum dwellers rehabilitated.

On December 30, 2023, HT had reported the state government’s plan to redevelop one of Mumbai’s oldest slums spread over 75 acres in Ghatkopar East, built in the early 1960s, into a shiny new residential-cum-commercial zone. Kamaraj Nagar is spread over approximately 46 acres.

The redevelopment of the two hubs will be the largest after the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, said government officials. It will involve the overhaul of around 2000 slums located between the eastern freeway and the western expressway. It will also help the state government extend the eastern freeway up to Thane.

Thane, which is the CM’s home turf, received significant attention in the meeting. Mission ‘Slum Free Thane’ was assigned to MMRDA. One of the highlights of the project is state-of-the-art bus depots which will be constructed on land owned by Thane Transport Service in the Thane Municipal Corporation. “This will ensure the rehabilitation of slum dwellers and boost the ‘Slum Free Thane’,” said Shinde.

Other projects that were green-flagged for Thane are: the Balkum to Gaymukh Thane Coastal Road; extension of eastern freeway from Chheda Nagar, Ghatkopar to Thane; an 8.25 kilometer elevated road from Anand Nagar, Thane City to Saket; and construction of a bridge between Gaymukh and Payegaon.

In Kalyan, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by CM’s son MP Shrikant Shinde, MMRDA has approved the outer ring road project and has allocated ₹39 crore for it.

Apart from CM Eknath Shinde, who is also the chairperson of MMRDA, chief secretary Dr Nitin Karir, metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA Sanjay Mukherjee, additional chief secretary of housing development Valsa Nair Singh and principal secretary of urban development department Asim Gupta attended the meeting. The chief minister also ordered a ‘deep clean’ drive across MMR.