Vertical slums bring plethora of woes for Mumbai

Burgeoning population and scarcity of land may have led the city to grow upwards, but lack of sunrise and ventilation is turning several towers into vertical slums.

State chief architect Bipin Sankhe says he sees a huge problem in the manner slums and ground-plus-one chawls are being razed to make way for concrete towers, that too haphazardly. "It also gives the city an ugly look."

Sankhe said he had raised concerns with the government over the fact that in case of redevelopment the original owners end up getting a raw deal. "The original inhabitants become secondary residents as they are crammed into buildings constructed cheek by jowl under the guise of pakka legal houses and amenities."

All the facilities such as swimming pools, decks and badminton courts are reserved for the buyers of bigger flats in a redeveloped property. "Such buyers become the new owners."

Pulmonologist Jalil Parkar from Lilavati Hospital said lack of sunlight and fresh air at these new urban chawls can have debilitating effect on the inhabitants' health. Residents of such buildings are more at risk of contracting TB and developing vitamin D deficiency diseases.

"Due to lack of fresh air, people are suffering from respiratory diseases and are passing on the ailments to their family members and neighbours. The government should take these problems into account while framing policies on redevelopment," said Parkar.

Urban experts see a much bigger problem after a few decades when these redeveloped buildings, which stand on very little space, will go for further redevelopment. "How will the residents of such crammed buildings get bigger space? The current redevelopment rules are likely to throw up several unanswered questions than providing a solution," said an expert.

Conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah said urban planners do not consider high density towers are not the solutions. "The vertical slums leave a psychological impact on the inhabitants. Developed countries have rejected this model years ago. These houses offer no privacy."

Lambah said high density and low-rise buildings are the only solution to affordable housing. "This model has been widely accepted in Europe and Western countries. It's time we relooked our redevelopment policy."

Rajiv Mishra, principal of Sir JJ College of Architecture, said the state should set up an expert panel to study the existing policy and ground reality. Based on the panel's recommendations, it can revise the policy. "The development of the city should happen as per its master plan."

According to Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm, the government must maintain the old beauty of the city. "The low-cost housing model can be implemented on the periphery where large tracts of lands available."

Kapoor said redevelopment is a lucrative option for the developers as they can easily get the land. "To maximise profits, developers don't leave any open space in redevelopment. In the absence of an efficient monitoring system, they go unpunished. Nevertheless, there are a few developers who provide open space in redevelopment." Kapoor added that time had come to redefine land use.

Sunil Mantri, chairman of NAREDCO, an umbrella body of developers, said Mumbai doesn't give any option other than going vertical. "However, while redeveloping old buildings and slums, it's possible to provide open space and recreation facilities for the residents. For instance, there only high-rises in Singapore and Hong Kong."