Dharavi residents are looking for larger apartments and faster construction and redevelopment
Residents of Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, say the 30 square meter free housing offered by Adani Group is moving in the right direction and look forward to faster redevelopment of the slums within seven years.
“We welcome the offer from Adani Group, but we would like faster construction and bigger houses of 400 sq ft,” said Ramakant Gupta, a resident of Dharavi. “We have been waiting for our tenements since 2004 when the first development plan for Dharavi was approved by the Maharashtra government. Some residents have been waiting for decades to enter a concrete home,” he says.
“Our demand is for 500 square meters of free apartments for the residents. The government is giving a lot of incentives to the project and hence we think it would be feasible for the developer to offer bigger houses to the residents,” said Rajendra Korde, chairman of the project. by Dharavi Bachao Andolan. According to a 2007 survey, Dharavi is home to 58,000 residential units and 12,000 commercial tenements, many of which are two to three stories high. Therefore, the population density is very high and everyone should be provided with shelter, he added.
On Monday, Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt, a joint venture between the Adani Group and the Maharashtra government, announced that eligible Dharavi tenements will be provided with free apartments with a floor covering of at least 30 square meters – 17 percent more than other slum redevelopment projects . in Mumbai. The non-eligible residents receive free housing at another location.
The survey to identify eligible and ineligible residents will begin next week. Eligible tenements are those that existed before January 2000, an official said. The ineligible residents had rented houses in the slums and had no documentation.
“I think this is an attractive proposal from the Adani Group and they should get a good response from the residents of Dharavi,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, chairman of the Hiranandani Group.
Construction of the nearby BDD (Bombay Development Department) chawls in Central Mumbai – the first to cut red tape – is in full swing after Tata Projects, Larsen & Toubro and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. won the contracts two years ago. Once construction begins in Dharavi, it will result in additional housing stock to the metropolis, which is devoid of quality housing, say real estate developers.
Experts say the new sea link connecting Central Mumbai and Navi Mumbai will give more impetus to the development of Dharavi. Vimal Nadar, Senior Director of Research at Colliers India, says that for the first time in decades, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is undergoing a transformative infrastructure upgrade on a scale never seen before. “The upgrade has the potential to reshape the city’s real estate landscape, freeing it somewhat from the growth constraints that come from being a linear city,” he said.
“The Dharavi project, along with new urban infrastructure such as Metrorail 3 (connecting Seepz and the airport to South Mumbai) and the Coastal Road, will transform the city,” said another real estate developer, who asked not to be quoted. Important micro markets like Central Mumbai and
Navi Mumbai is poised to witness increased commercial and residential activities, led by improved connectivity and redevelopment projects like Dharavi.
The Maharashtra government plans to redevelop Dharavi as an integrated planned township, resettle its 1 million residents and transform the 2.8 square meter slum into a cluster of high-rise buildings with improved urban infrastructure. The project was approved for redevelopment in July last year, with the proposed timeline for completion within seven years for the first phase.
First print: January 17, 2024 | 12:18 pm IST