Indian Express 14.06.2010
5,000 homes if MHADA develops Dharavi sector-5
Shalini Nair Tags : housing Posted: Mon Jun 14 2010, 04:14 hrs
Mumbai: At a time when the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is scrounging for every available piece of land in Mumbai to augment the affordable housing stock, its proposal to redevelop sector five of Dharavi, if accepted by the government, will add 5,000 homes to the city’s public housing kitty.These 5,000 houses in the heart of the city can then be sold at affordable rates through MHADA’s annual lottery system.
The proposal, presented to the Chief Minister last week, says MHADA, at a cost of Rs 2500 crore and using a floor space index of four, will construct 10.5 lakh sq m built-up space, 4.5 lakh sq m for rehabilitating existing residents and 6 lakh sq m as the sale component, half of it residential and half commercial.
“The money raised from selling the commercial space would be used to cross-subsidise the rates of residential units. About a third of the houses would be reserved for the economically weaker sections and lower income groups while the remaining will be for those that fit MHADA’s definition of middle and higher income groups,” said a senior official at the Mantralaya.
Existing rates in Sion-Mahim are close to Rs 15,000 to Rs 23,000 a sq ft, while these homes would be sold at an average Rs 5000 per sq ft.
The proposal estimates an average house size of 600 sq ft, with a total residential built up space of 3 lakh sq m. This would translate into 5,000 homes over and above the homes needed to rehabilitate the existing residents of Dharavi. “Since the project allows a developer to raise money through the sale component while simultaneously constructing rehabilitation tenements, MHADA would require only an upfront amount of Rs 500 crore to kickstart the project. Besides creating a huge public housing stock, 50 per cent of the profit earned at the end of the project would be ploughed into the government’s dedicated shelter fund,” said a government source who has studied the proposal.
Of the five sectors carved out for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, sector five is the least problematic. Sector four is the most dense, while sectors one and three mostly comprise residents who run small recycling units, an occupation that would not be sustainable in highrises. Sector three also has issues of private land ownership, while Khumbarwada in sector two is opposed to redevelopment through private developers.
The 62-hectare sector five lies near the Mahim Nature Park and has large swathes of green spaces that would remain untouched. If the project is awarded to a private developer, almost half of the sector that includes private land, already developed areas, areas falling under ONGC, BEST and a sports complex would have to be left as it is.
MHADA’s proposal looks at tying up with BEST and building a podium-level bus station in return for permission to build homes on the sizable BEST-owned land. Similar tie-ups have also being proposed with ONGC and private landowners.
THE PROPOSAL
10.5 lakhsq m built-up area
4.5 lakhsq m rehab area
3 lakhsq m sale area (3 lakh sq m each, residential and commercial)
5,000additional houses
Rs 5,000per sq ft average cost of each
