Mumbai set for housing boom with new law

Redevelopment projects in the city that were stuck because of stringent coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) rules will get a push soon.

Redevelopment projects in the city that were stuck because of stringent coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) rules will get a push soon.

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Union minister of environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, is expected to soon announce new coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) rules that will give Mumbai ‘special status’ and allow unique CRZ norms to be framed for it. “We expect an announcement from the Centre soon,” chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said.

An experts’ committee under agriculture scientist, MS Swaminathan, formed to review the draft Coastal Management Zone notification of 2008, had said Mumbai needs to be treated as a special case because the 45-km coastline is suffering damage due to haphazard construction.

Mumbai-specific CRZ rules will allow cluster development of more than 16,000 old and dilapidated buildings located in CRZ areas in the densely populated island city.

Cluster development, proposed in areas such as Girgaum, Worli Koliwada, Lamington Road, Chira Bazaar, Mazgaon and Vikhroli, aims at integrated development of an entire area with basic amenities. The rules, however, do not make cluster development compulsory.

The new rules will also make 136 slums located within 500 metres of the coast eligible for rehabilitation under a special scheme in which the state can partner with private firms but will retain a 51% stake in the project.