Indian Express 08.06.2010
Now, MHADA proposes to develop one of five Dharavi sectors
Shalini Nair Tags : MHADA/dharavi development, mumbai Posted: Tue Jun 08 2010, 23:37 hrs
Mumbai: After being relegated to cold storage for some time, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will explore yet another model. In a first, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has proposed that it would like to develop one of the five sectors in the 2-sq-km slum sprawl on its own instead of handing it to a developer.The proposal was discussed at meeting held by chief minister Ashok Chavan on Monday and attended by officials of MHADA and the state housing and urban development departments. MHADA vice president Gautam Chatterjee proposed his agency would like to develop sector 5 by appointing a contractor. The 62-hectare sector near Mahim Nature Park has 8,872 structures spread over 23 hectares that qualify for rehabilitation. The remaining 39 hectares will be excluded as they include private land, already developed areas and areas falling under ONGC or BEST, as well as green patches.
Earlier this year, a subcommittee of secretaries had recommended that if the government decides to go in for phase-wise development, sector 5 should be taken up first as, compared to the other sectors, it involves fewer land ownership issues and less local opposition to the project.
An official present at the meeting said, “Since the DRP has been a non-starter for so long, MHADA has presented a plan that the agency be allowed to develop sector 5 on its own using a floor space index of 4.” He added that the plan will generate public housing stock for MHADA, but the government won’t earn any premium if the sector is awarded to private developers. “The premium of Rs 400 per sq ft of rehabilitation area is meant to provide for off-site infrastructure which is very much required when the slums will be transformed into towers as high as 30 storeys,” said the official.
The report by the subcommittee of secretaries had said the number of bidders competing for the project should be frozen at the existing seven developers but the government should adopt a staggered bidding process wherein bids are called for redevelopment of one sector at a time. As per estimates by the subcommittee, the five winning developers will cumulatively earn Rs 44,000 crore by way of the sale component in the project, and the government Rs 6,000 crore by way of premium.
“MHADA’s proposal of redeveloping Dharavi through a contractor is one of three options being considered by the government, the other two being going for staggered bidding, and just sticking to the original plan of calling for simultaneous bids for all five sectors,” said a Mantralaya official adding a final decision would be taken by the Cabinet.
