Boost for Dharavi redevelopment
The ambitious Rs 15,000-crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), which aims to redevelop the largest slum in Mumbai, got a shot in the arm on Tuesday with the state government approving the new Development Control Rules (DCR) for the project.
On Monday, the government had announced that the current occupiers of slums built before 2000 in case of the DRP will be entitled for rehabilitation. Combining these two decisions taken over the past two days, the government moved the project ahead significantly as the city corporation goes to the polls in February.
The government announced that MHADA or other government bodies would be the nodal agency to develop the land that belongs to the government or semi-government agencies. Government and semi-government land will be developed through competitive bidding through MHADA and fresh tenders will be issued for construction.
The PPP option remained open for private land, which amounts to one fifth of the total area. Demands from NGOs and local groups to permit them to redevelop the private land on their own were being “considered”.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan announced that the new DCR will give a push to the project that was first approved in 2004 and has since faced hurdles. Last year, the government announced MHADA would develop Sector 5 of the five sectors in Dharavi so that the government can earn revenue.
Chavan said government land would be developed by MHADA and started the process for it. “The houses will be distributed through lottery and additional land will be used commercially and add to MHADA’s revenue,” said Chavan.
The project has been granted four FSI and corpus for maintenance for the next years will be created. He assured that the commercial units in the area will be properly rehabilitated with sufficient infrastructure.