‘SRA schemes cannot be implemented in koliwadas and gaothans’

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has rejected an application to consider a portion of Worli Koliwada as a slum rehabilitation area. The order brings relief to residents who have been threatened by SRA projects on their ancestral land. The ruling sets a precedent for other areas facing similar threats. While residents are not opposed to redevelopment, they argue for higher FSI and rules that accommodate their unique living conditions. The demarcation of gaothans and koliwadas by the revenue department is necessary before redevelopment rules can proceed.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), in an order dated December 12, has rejected an application to consider a portion of the Worli Koliwada, measuring 8,920 metres, as a slum rehabilitation area. This latest order comes as a relief to the residents of gaothans and koliwadas in the city, who have for years now been threatened with SRA projects on their ancestral land.

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The original application had been filed by the Waraslane SRA CHS in 2015, asking that the area be declared a slum so that a slum redevelopment project could take its place. “It is the only option available to rehabilitate slum dwellers in accordance with Regulation 33(10) of the DCPR, 2034,” reads the application.

The koliwada residents remember it differently. “Back in 2015, a few builders had got together to try to get four acres of the Worli Koliwada area declared a slum so that they could redevelop it as an SRA project and profit from it,” said Pralhad Worlikar, secretary of the Worli Koliwada Owners Society. “But the people here all fought unitedly against the attempt. Why should we, the original inhabitants of the city, be characterised as a slum?”

The final order noted that there was still opposition to the survey and implementation of slum rehabilitation schemes by residents. The main issue, said the order, “is the issue of the demarcation of the koliwada/koliwada gaothans”. No slum rehabilitation schemes will be carried out by the SRA until the issue is resolved, confirmed a source in the know.

“We welcome this order,” said Alphi D’Souza from the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, an NGO dealing with the issues of the city’s many gaothans. “There should be absolutely no question of SRA schemes being implemented in gaothans or koliwadas, because they are not slums. The word ‘slums’ applies to settlements on encroached land. In gaothans, everyone has a ‘Saat baara’ and are land owners. Those trying to impose SRA schemes on our land are either people who’ve settled in on the periphery and can benefit from redevelopment or those with vested business interests in the land.”

The firm order, barring any route for SRA projects in gaothan or koliwada land, will set a precedent for other areas. According to advocate-activist Godfrey Pimenta from the Watchdog Foundation, other gaothans too have been threatened with SRA projects. “A builder has purchased some land in the Kirol gaothan and was attempting an SRA project,” he said. “Similar attempts were made in the Ranwar gaothan in Bandra. This order will set a helpful precedent.”

Pimenta explained that the advantage of an SRA scheme was its higher FSI of 4 as opposed to a regular FSI of 2.7 as per Regulation 33(16) of the DCPR meant for koliwadas, gaothans and adivasi padas, depending on the road width. SRA schemes benefit builders but not the residents.

Additionally, the difference in area between gaothan/koliwada houses and slum tenements is huge—Pimenta’s property in Marol gaothan, for instance, is around 3,000 square feet. SRA schemes, which promise tiny houses of 300 square feet, are not appealing to them.

Pimenta and D’Souza, however, maintained that gaothans and koliwadas were not opposed to redevelopment. Pimenta has filed a petition in the Bombay high court in 2019, arguing for higher FSI for gaothans and koliwadas so that residents can accommodate their growing families. But this redevelopment would only work if rules are made for them and their unique living conditions instead of subjecting them to high-rises in place of their houses. Also, till such time as gaothans and koliwadas are demarcated—which is the job of the revenue department—the rules for their redevelopment cannot proceed.