Now there is a ray of hope for thousands of such project affected people (PAPs) as the metropolitan authority has sent a proposal to the state government.
Jarrom Lobo, 57, lost his house on the Eastern Express Highway when the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) carried out a road-widening project in Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in the Sion-Chunabhatti area. Although Lobo was staying in the house since 1973, he was declared ineligible since the house was not in his name. However, now there is a ray of hope for thousands of such project affected people (PAPs) as the metropolitan authority has sent a proposal to the state government.
According to an MMRDA official, the issue of ineligibility is a huge concern for most of the PAPs. “We are entirely dependent on the district collector’s office while carrying out rehabilitation of these PAPs. In many cases, a sizeable number of slum dwellers are declared ineligible since they do not have relevant documents in spite of staying at one place for years together. We have decided to formulate a proposal where those PAPs who are technically disqualified can get relief through a scheme such as the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
The proposal has been designed on the principles of Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) which is the housing component of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Under this component, the urban poor have to pay only 10 to 12% of the total cost of the tenement and the rest can be borne by the state and central governments.
“However, the PAPs who are not eligible vary from project to project. For instance, in Mithi rehabilitation in Valmiki Nagar near Vakola, out of about 150 PaPs, only two or three qualified. In case of the Charkop depot which we will need for the second line of the metro, the number of PAPs is close to 700 to 800. We will try and implement the new proposal in the near future,” said the official.
The authority can implement such a proposal subject to availability of housing stock, feel officials. “Issues such as scientific reclamation of the saltpan lands play a key role in this. Mumbai has close to 2,177 hectares of saltpan land, out of which 256 hectares can be immediately taken up for development. If such measures are taken by the government, then eradication of slums from the city will no longer be a distant dream,” said an official.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}