 "Dharavi residents seek bigger flats, faster construction and redevelopment")
The residents of Asia’s largest slum Dharavi have welcomed Adani Group’s offer of providing them 350 square feet of free houses, saying it is a step in the right direction and they are looking forward to the faster redevelopment of the 600-acre area. The slum dwellers, however, said they want the houses with a bigger carpet area than what has been promised by the conglomerate.
On Monday, Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt, a joint venture between Adani Group and the Maharashtra government, said Dharavi’s eligible residential tenements will get free flats with a minimum 350 square feet of carpet space – 17 per cent more than other slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai.
“We welcome the offer made by Adani Group but we would like faster construction and bigger 400 square feet houses,” said Ramakant Gupta, president of Dharavi Redevelopment Committee.
“We have been waiting for our tenements since 2004 when the first development plan for Dharavi was approved by the Maharashtra government. Some of the residents are waiting for decades to get into a concrete house,” he said.
The ineligible residents will be given free homes at another site. A survey to identify the eligible and ineligible residents will begin next week. The eligible residential tenements are those that were in existence before January 2000, said an official. The ineligible residents had taken houses on rent in the slums and lacked documents.
"Our demand is for 500 square feet of free flats to the residents. The government is giving a lot of incentives to the project. Hence, we think it would be feasible for the developer to offer larger houses to the residents," said Rajendra Korde, convener of Dharavi Bachao Andolan.
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As per a 2007 survey, there are 58,000 residential and 12,000 commercial tenements in Dharavi and many of them are two and three-storey high. Hence, the population density is very high, he said, adding all should be accommodated.
“I think this is an attractive proposal from Adani Group and they should get a good response from the occupants of Dharavi,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman of Hiranandani group.
The construction of the nearby BDD (Bombay Development Department) chawls in Central Mumbai – which is the first to clear the red tape – is in full swing after Tata Projects, Larsen & Toubro and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co won the contracts two years ago. Once the construction at Dharavi starts, it would result in additional house stock coming to the metropolis which is starved of quality housing, say real estate developers.
Experts say the new sea link connecting Central Mumbai and Navi Mumbai will give more fillip to Dharavi development. Vimal Nadar, Senior Director, Research Colliers India says for the first time probably in decades, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is undergoing a transformative infrastructure upgrade on a scale previously unseen. “The upgrade has the potential to reimagine the real estate landscape of the city, somewhat liberating it from the growth limitations that come from the virtue of being a linear city,” he said.
“The Dharavi project, along with new urban infrastructure like Metro rail 3 (connecting Seepz, and airport to South Mumbai) and Coastal road will transform the city,” said another real estate developer, asking not to be quoted. Key micro markets like Central Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are poised to witness heightened commercial and residential activity led by improved connectivity and redevelopment projects such as Dharavi.
The Maharashtra government is planning to redevelop Dharavi as an integrated planned township, resettling its 1 million residents and redeveloping the slum area into a cluster of high-rises with improved urban infrastructure. The project received approval for redevelopment in July last year with the proposed timeline for completion within 7 years for the first phase.