'DNA' investigations: Why there'll never be a new Dharavi

Dharavi is unlikely to be redeveloped anytime soon. At least that is what the people living in Asia's largest slum believe.

Ever since the government okayed the Dharavi Redevelopment Project in 2004 to transform it into an integrated hi-tech city, whatever little work was going on in the area has stopped.

Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister, tried to set the ball rolling by asking the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) in May 2011 to redevelop Dharavi's sector 5.

Dharavi has been divided into five sectors to make the redevelopment process easy. The fate of the other four sectors, however, is uncertain.

Chavan reposed his faith in the government body because he was worried of rigging and other malpractice if private bidders were to be involved. But DNA found in the course of its investigation that the chief minister, ever busy to keep his clean image intact, overlooked the MHADA's poor track record.  

An official from the CM’s office said Chavan was wary of private builders because the bids were suddenly called off without any specific reason. Chavan did not want any controversy during the bidding. DNA found that in his quest for maintaining moral decorum, Chavan forgot that the MHADA is incapable of developing such a large-scale project.

No one is happy with this government move that comes almost eight years after the DRP was approved. Even people from within the Congress had warned Chavan against giving the contract to the MHADA.

Eknath Gaikwad, Congress MP, had cautioned Chavan that appointing the MHADA would only prolong the project. A senior south central district Congress committee leader too had told Chavan that the MHADA would be a wrong choice.

DNA tried to contact MHADA for its side of the story, but Satish Gavai, vice-president and CEO, MHADA, and officer on special duty, DRP, did not respond to emails, SMSes and phone calls.   

A former vice-president and CEO of the MHADA, who is also an expert on matters of redevelopment, did, however, say that the government body "does not have adequate resource and manpower to complete such a big project".

The chief minister also ignored a report of the chief secretary-appointed subcommittee that said a competitive bidding could still be done with the seven international consortiums left.

Of the 19 shortlisted consortiums in the initial days, at least 13 - fed up with unnecessary delays and bureaucratic hassles - backed out at various stages. The committee strongly recommended a staggered bidding involving the seven developers as it would hasten the bidding process apart from keeping it competitive. But the government did not bother to go through all these recommendations and dillydallied for about a year before awarding sector 5 to the MHADA.

Sector 5 is spread across 153 acres adjoining the Mahim Nature Park. The government body is supposed to build 5,000 flats of 300 sqft each free of cost for slum-dwellers who fulfil the eligibility criteria.

While a reason cannot be pinpointed as to why Chavan chose the MHADA, the fact remains that the government body has failed miserably to resettle slum-dwellers who have encroached upon its land.

A MHADA report says hundreds of slums exist on its land. DNA has a copy of the report - based on a 2007 survey - that says almost 50,000 families live in slums spread across 25 acres of MHADA land.

A former MHADA chairman said the body has neither the manpower nor the resource needed for such a project. "Considering its track record in rehabilitating slum-dwellers, I think it is very difficult for the MHADA to redevelop even one sector [5]," he said. "To be honest, I don't think it would be completed even in the next 10 years."

"How can we expect the MHADA to develop Dharavi with all its complex structures when it has failed to do anything about slums on its land?" asked Bhau Korde, a social activist. Korde has been working in Dharavi for the past 20 years, trying to improve the lives of slum-dwellers.