Keeping an eye on the forthcoming civic election in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced changes in the Development Control Rules (DCR) for the partial redevelopment of Dharavi slums.
The shanty town, which is partially located in central Mumbai and eastern suburbs, has a population of about 10 lakh. The State government has been trying to redevelop the slum since 2004. However, all the initiatives kept getting entangled in legal and financial hurdles.
ddressing a press conference on Tuesday, the Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, said that under the new Development Control Rules for redeveloping Dharavi, developers would be given an FSI of four. Since sector 5 in the slum is mostly built on government land, the redevelopment work will begin from there. About 60,000 families will be benefited from this redevelopment in the first phase, he said.
A studio apartment of 300 sq ft carpet area will be given to slum-dwellers. They will also have the option of buying another 100 square feet. The apartment will be jointly registered in the names of husband and wife, Mr Chavan said.
The Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) will be the nodal agency for the redevelopment of Dharavi. Infrastructure facilities such as roads, toilets and gardens will be developed to improve people's standard of living, he said.
Mr Chavan said that competitive bids will be invited for redevelopment on government and semi-government land. Slums and chawls (small tenement) will be redeveloped on the lines of cluster development. A ten-year corpus fund will be set up for the maintenance of redeveloped buildings, he said.
About one fifth of land in Dharavi is privately owned. Experts have suggested an option of self-development, involving land owners and residents. The proposal is under consideration, he said.