Mumbai coastal slum rehab: Rules may be eased

To give a boost to the state’s slum development plan along the city’s coastline, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority is looking at viable options. Nearly 150 housing projects that could create 4lakh housing units are caught in a limbo for the last three years as the land on which they stand falls under the coastal regulation zone – that’s 500 metres from the coast. Most of the projects are in the western suburbs.

Realty developers are fighting shy of developing the projects as they are less lucrative in the wake of a notification issued in 2010 by former union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh. It states that redevelopment in coastal zones can happen with the state housing authority having a 51% stake and the remaining 49% resting with private developers. It is this clause that developers are wary of, as they fear that it will translate into little by way of profitability.

The slum development scheme had been floated to redevelop slums to provide better and affordable housing to the people.

According to government sources, developers will not be allowed to build additional houses on such land, which they can sell in the open market. “Developers can construct only on the existing area; they will not get any additional floor space,” said the source.

A city-based real estate expert said that if such projects get some leeway and are subsequently picked up by developers, it would created almost 4lakh housing units for the city. “This excess supply will surely ease the skyrocketing rates of housing,” said the expert who asked not to be named.

Chief of the state’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, said they will have a meeting with stakeholders to understand their reservation in taking up such projects. “We will discuss about how such projects in the coastal zone can be made viable. After studying the aspects, we will submit a report to the state government within three weeks,” said Deshmukh.
City-based architect Milind Samel said the union government’s 51:49 notification lacks clarity. “A clear government policy is required. They need to specify how much saleable space will be made available to developers in coastal zones,” said Samel.