Ramabai Nagar redevelopment hit by bureaucratic delays

The revamp of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamgar Nagar is MMRDA’s first foray into slum redevelopment

Mumbai: Three months after former chief minister Eknath Shinde distributed rental cheques to residents of Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamgar Nagar, redevelopment of the two slum pockets along the Eastern Express Highway in Ghatkopar East is yet to take off.

An aerial view of the Rambai Ambedkar Nagar. (Satish Bate/ / Hindustan Times)

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the project jointly with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), blamed the latter for the delay, saying they were yet to get possession of the 33.15-hectare plot. SRA officials said the matter was lying with a committee headed by chief secretary Sujata Saunik, who did not respond to requests for a comment from Hindustan Times.

The revamp of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and Kamgar Nagar is MMRDA’s first foray into slum redevelopment. The project was assigned jointly to MMRDA and SRA in early 2024 as part of a larger plan to involve various government bodies in making Mumbai slum free. Residents of 16,575 tenements – roughly 85% of the population of the two slum pockets – were found eligible for rehabilitation in a survey conducted March onwards.

On September 3, Eknath Shinde, then chief minister, distributed rental cheques to eligible residents with much fanfare at an event in the locality, and the government assured that their new 300-square feet carpet area apartments would be ready within two years of them vacating the premises.

More than three months later, the residents are where they were and MMRDA is yet to get possession of the plot, without which it cannot tie up with financial institutions and float tenders for construction, said MMRDA officials.

“SRA is yet to push the project ahead and hand over the land to us,” said an MMRDA official, requesting anonymity. Progress on the matter has been stalled, first due to the assembly polls in November, then delays in government formation and allocation of portfolios, he added.

An SRA official denied the charge, saying they were only a planning body and did not own any land.

“A committee headed by the chief secretary is ascertaining the valuation of the land parcel to compensate the plot’s owner. Once that process is finalised, a government resolution will be issued. There is nothing pending from our end,” the official told Hindustan Times.

The MMRDA official quoted earlier said vacating the plot would not be a problem once they got possession of the land. “People have already been paid advance rent for two years, so that is not an issue. Once we get possession, vacating the plot will take no time,” the official said.

The redevelopment project will help generate 5,000 additional housing units and 75 lakh square feet commercial space for the MMRDA, which is likely to fetch the planning body ₹10,000 crore.