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Mumbai: Largest slum in Asia- Dharavi gets ready for a makeover

Ateeq Shaikh shares details of the ambitious plan to change the face of the largest slum in Asia.

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A new life has been injected into the Dharavi redevelopment project as the state government plans to come out with bids for the same later this month. dna's Ateeq Shaikh shares details of the ambitious plan to change the face of the largest slum in Asia

Residents of Dharavi — Asia's largest slum as well as largest small scale industries zone — have received new hope for a better livelihood as the state government finally plans to float global bids for the redevelopment project later this month. And if all goes according to the plan, the same will become reality in a span of seven years.

On January 6, the proposed land use plan for Dharavi in line with the development plan was given in-principle approval by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The same is expected to be notified anytime soon.

New cut-off date
"Since the last study that was undertaken in 2008, there have been several developments on ground as well as rules regarding slums. As per the decision taken in 2014, the rule of January 1, 2000 will be followed," said Nirmal Deshmukh, chief executive officer, Dharavi Redevelopment Authority and Slum Rehabilitation Authority. Even the new transfer policy for slums will be followed by ownership.
This brings in new lease of life for those who have bought shanties between January 1, 1995 and January 1, 2000. More locals will get homes in the planned multi-storied buildings. Those who reside on rented floors — not on the ground floor — will not be eligible to get rehabilitated under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

Bids
The global bid to develop four of the five sectors of Dharavi is expected to be floated in this month. The fifth sector is already being developed by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Project cost
Pegged at an estimated value of Rs5,000 to Rs7,000 crore for each sector, the entire money will be invested by the private player with the government not spending any money from the public funds.

Rehabilitation tenement size
In 2004, when the project was announced 225sqft was to be given for each eligible structure. Due to persistent demand from the locals and their representatives, the carpet area size was increased in 2012 to 275sqft. Thereafter, it was again revised just before 2014 state elections to 300sqft. The latest offer is 350sqft against the demand of 400sqft.

Also Read: 'Dharavi not a slum; it's Asia’s largest small-scale industry'

Saleable component
If the private builder develops 10sqmt of the built-up area of the rehabilitation component, then the builder will stand to get 13.33sqmt of the built-up area to sell in the open market. Therefore, even by conservative figures and as per the study done in 2008 there will be as many as 78,000 to 80,000 housing units of around 450sqft available for sale in the market.
However, the reality is likely to be different as developers are doing their own survey to calculate total eligible structures in their own sector. Depending on the survey outcome, they will decide on the total number of apartments that will be constructed under the saleable component and the apartment size.

Locals happy but skeptical
Locals are welcoming the announcement but are also skeptical about it due to their experience of flip-flops in the past 12 years.
"We want Dharavi to develop and no one wants to live in a slum. But going by our experience, this announcement seems like a merry-go-round. If the government actually wants development, it is a great news for us," Raju Korde, convenor of Dharavi Bachao Andolan Samiti, a leftist organisation.
Former Shiv Sena MLA from Dharavi Baburao Mane, too, is happy with the latest news. He said: "For the last 11 years we were fighting for an area of 400 sqft as the government agreed for 350 sqft., we welcome it and will not oppose the project."

Concerns & other demand
Among the couple of concerns raised by Korde is the demand for the government to develop the area so that affordable housing stock can be created on the balance land that will be left post redevelopment. This will help in providing affordable housing well within Mumbai limits as landbank of MHADA has almost come to an end. "Or else it will turn out to be a sophisticated land grab by private players," said Korde.
"The only two demands left are to include those residing on private land for decades now and give corpus of Rs5 lakh to each eligible slumdweller," said Mane.
The residents not only want a decent living and residential apartments, but also quality social infrastructure like medical centres, educational institutes, gardens, grounds, among others.

Questions over total structures
Overall, the authorities as well as locals and their representatives agree that the survey carried out in 2008 by Mashaal, an non-government organisation, has several irregularities. Hundreds of structures were not covered. The survey, done with a sample size, states a total of 59,165 structures in Dharavi. But Mane claims there are nearly 1,20,000 in all the five sectors of Dharavi.

Also Read: Asia's biggest slum Dharavi to soon be a thing of the past

HISTORY
In the 18th century, Dharavi was an island with mangrove swamp. Daravi is the historical spelling of the area. A century later Koli fishermen started living here and then it was known as the village of Koliwadas. As urbanisation became a norm under the British Raj the city's population then reached around a million. The urban area then covered mostly the southern extension of Mumbai peninsula. Most parts of Mumbai faced acute shortage of housing and serious problems with the provision of water, sanitation and drainage. Residential areas were segregated in Mumbai between European and 'native' residential quarters. Unsanitary conditions plagued Mumbai, particularly in the so-called Native Town. In 1869, as with 19th century epidemics in European slums, plague spread in Mumbai and then across most of India. The epidemic killed nearly 2,00,000 people in Mumbai and 8 million in India. In 1880s, concerned about epidemics, the British colonial government expelled polluting industries and many Indian residents of the Native Town, away from the peninsular part of the city, to a distant edge of the city in the north in the village of Koliwadas. Thus was born Dharavi.

DHARAVI & MOVIES
Slumdog Millionaire, Kaminey, Businessman, Dharavi, Aamir, Traffic Signal, No Smoking, Bhoothnath Returns, Nayagan, Bombay, Footpath, Salaam Bombay, among others.

DHARAVI & INDUSTIRES
Pottery, snacks, leather goods, rubber and plastic recycling units, scrap, electronic waste, handicraft, garments, embroidery, papads, foundries, restaurants, sweet-making, soap and detergent factories, bakeries, kite making, export oriented units, printing press, suitcase, umbrella manufacturing, etc.

COMPLEX STRUCTURES
Each structure or shanty in Dharavi has more than one family residing. Ground floor is occupied by the legal owner, but the floors above have been rented out. These families staying above aren't eligible under the project. Additionally, another complication is many ground floor structures have been divided into two (by putting partition) due to division in the family.

STATISTICS
FLOOR SPACE INDEX: 4
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION DURATION: 7 Years
AREAS ELIGIBLE (RESIDENTIAL): 300sqft + 50sqft (From Fungible FSI)
AREAS ELIGIBLE (COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL): 225sqft
TOTAL SECTORS: 5 (Sector 5 being developed by MHADA. One building ready)
ESTIMATED COST: Rs5,000-7,000 crore per sector by the developer
STRUCTURES: 59,165 (As per 2008 study); 1,20,000 (Estimated figure By Dharavi representatives)
AREA: 550 acres
POPULATION: 12,00,000 estimated
TEMPLES: 200-250
MOSQUES: 33
CHURCHES: 10-12
GRAVEYARD: 1
CEMETERY: 1

SECTOR-WISE STRUCTURE BREAK-UP (AS DONE IN 2008)
11,453: Sector-I
14,427: Sector-II
12,653: Sector-III
11,245: Sector-IV
09,387: Sector-V
59,165: Total

RESIDENTIAL V/S COMMERCIAL BREAK-UP
45,859: Residential
330: Residential-Cum-Commercial
12,976: Commercial and Industrial
59,165: Total

AMENITIES & FACILITIES (TO BE BUILT BY DEVELOPERS)
TOTAL AREA (ALL 5 SECTORS) & BUILDABLE AMENITY (In sqmt)
56,668.58: Primary School
56,668.58: Secondary School
39,200.00: Dispensary, Maternity Homes & Polyclinics
1,000.00: Welfare Centres, Gymnasium & Community Hall
1,000.00: Library
3,990.00: Fire Station
1,330.00: Post Office
3,990.00: Police Station
15,694.00: Retail Market
700.00: Police Chowky
2,230.00: Potters Institute

AMENITIES & FACILITIES (NOT TO BE BUILT BY DEVELOPERS)
TOTAL AREA (ALL 5 SECTORS) & NON-BUILDABLE AMENITY (In Hectares)
0.06: BEST Bus Station
1.30: BEST Receiving Station
0.37: Pumping Station
0.30: NID & Industrial Training Institute
1.84: Parking Lot
6.32: Recreational Open Public Spaces
4.81: Recreation Ground
2.50: Play Ground
3.20: Mahim Rajiv Gandhi Nagar
0.22: Potters Institute
0.40: Tata Power

PROJECT TIMELINE
2004: Dharavi Redevelopment Project Announced
2007: Expression of Interest called and received response from 19 developers
2008: Survey of Dharavi completed
2009: Master plan of Dharavi Redevelopment Project completed
2010: Out of 19, only six developers continued to show interest in the project
2011: Bidding process terminated and master plan scrapped
2013: Draft of new master plan at par with Development Plan prepared
2014: The revised plan submitted to the state government
2014: Slum regularisation cut-off date extended to 01/01/2000
2016: In-principle approval received from state government to go ahead with developing 4 sectors

TIMELINE: INCREASE IN TENEMENT AREA
2004: 225 sqft
2012: 275 sqft
2014: 300sqft
2016: 350sqft

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