MUMBAI: A 2023 drone survey by Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd (NMDPL) will serve as the benchmark to demolish new structures that have cropped up in the Dharavi Notified Area (DNA), said Dharavi Redevelopment Project CEO and chairman of NMDPL S V R Srinivas. So anything that has come up after that survey will be razed.
The NMDPL, the special purpose vehicle set up for the redevelopment of Dharavi, had in Nov last year submitted the Dharavi Development Plan for the 251-hectare Dharavi Notified Area (DNA) to the Maharashtra govt for its consideration. Sources said so far, the govt has not recommended any changes to the plan. It is, however, not known when the state govt will publicise the plan and invite objections and suggestions.
According to sources, while construction of the rehabilitation tenements for those who are eligible for free housing will happen on the 47 acres of railway land that is available for the project, illegal construction continues unabated in the Dharavi Notified Area.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project/Slum Rehabilitation Authority or DRP/SRA, which is part of the NMDPL, said that the illegal construction is being promoted by residents and the local land mafia. It further said that in 2019, the BMC had undertaken a massive demolition drive in Dharavi. “The then assistant municipal commissioner Kiran Dighavkar had said that unauthorised construction was a recurring problem and the BMC would identify the perpetrators as mafia and action would be taken against them under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act.”
So far, more than 85,000 tenements have been numbered, which includes residential, commercial, religious structures and industrial units. The door-to-door survey has been completed for 50,000 tenements, and the final survey is expected to be completed by April end.
Referring to provisions of the current tender, the DRP/SRA said ground-floor residents who settled in Dharavi before Jan 1, 2000, will receive 350 sq ft homes within Dharavi, free of cost. Ground-floor residents, who settled between Jan 1, 2000 and Jan 1, 2011 would get 300 sq ft houses outside Dharavi at Rs 2.5 lakh, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
This is a clarification of CM Devendra Fadnavis’ statement made in December last year that residents up to 2011 will be rehabilitated in Dharavi itself. The DRP/SRA has further said that all upper-floor structures up to Nov 15, 2022 and ground-floor tenements constructed between Jan 1, 2011 and Nov 15, 2022 will be offered rental accommodation.
